


Someone to Want Me

by fritokays



Series: The Family That Wanted Me [1]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Spider-Man - All Media Types, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Abusive May Parker (Spider-Man), F/M, Female Peter Parker, Flash Thompson Being A Jerk, Natasha Romanov Is a Good Bro, Penny Parker - Freeform, Pepper Potts Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Protective Natasha Romanov, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Peter Parker, Protective Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, i'm penny parker trash, look it's another penny parker story, minor abuse mentioned, sexual harrassment/assault of a minor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-29
Updated: 2021-01-29
Packaged: 2021-03-15 01:15:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29055747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fritokays/pseuds/fritokays
Summary: When Penny finally tells someone about the verbal abuse May is hurling at her, she is immediately welcomed at the tower with open arms. She finds more family than she ever knew she needed.This one got away from me. It just kept going. It's super fluffy but does have some angst in the middle. It's snippets of Penny's new life at the tower with Dad!Tony and Mom!Pepper. It's cute I promise!
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Pepper Potts, Peter Parker & Tony Stark
Series: The Family That Wanted Me [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2150127
Comments: 37
Kudos: 297





	Someone to Want Me

**Author's Note:**

> TW!: There is a minor scene involving sexual assault in the middle of this story.

Natasha looked down at her ringing phone and couldn’t help the smile that tugged across her lips briefly. CALL FROM SPIDER BABY. She picked up the device and held up a hand to let Clint know she was taking the call being that his hearing aids were charging.

“Hello, маленький паук,” She answered the phone and could hear wind whipping in the background.

“Incoming, front right window!” Was her response before the line went dead. Natasha rolled her eyes but moved to the correct window, nonetheless. Not thirty seconds later, Spider-girl herself was flying in through the window. She landed in a roll before standing, “That was so cool!” She said as she removed her mask and shook her hair out. She glanced over at Clint who looked amused and signed her ‘hello’ to him. He beamed and signed back. Penny had learned sign language so quickly so that she would be able to talk to him.

“I will admit it was pretty impressive,” Natasha conceded as she rolled her eyes and shook her head good naturedly. Penny bounced on her toes and beamed at the praise. Coming from Black Widow, it was high praise.

“Thanks, Natasha!” She said and ran over to kiss the woman on the cheek, “I’m going to change so I’m not late for lab time with Mr. Stark,” She explained as she back out of the room. She signed as she spoke for Clint and then bounded down the hallway.

Natasha looked over at Clint who was looking at her knowingly. ‘What?’ She signed and he just smirked, ‘Shut up.’

0~0~0

After Penny changed into a pair of well-worn jeans, a Captain America t-shirt (really just to piss off Mr. Stark), waved at Pepper as she passed her office, and grabbed a banana, she headed down to the lab. As she entered the lab, she could hear Mr. Stark cursing under his breath about something and could also hear a small clinking sound as if he was trying to put something together.

She looked around and didn’t see him. Her eyebrows furrowed she called out, “Mr. Stark?” She heard a loud crash and then saw the man emerge from under one of the tables while rubbing the back of his head, “Oops, sorry,” She mumbled around the bite of banana in her mouth, “Whatcha working on?”

“This table leg is wobbly,” He said and she stared at him for a moment, “What?”

“You were cursing like a sailor over a table leg?” She asked incredulously, “Wait until everyone else sees that footage curtesy of FRIDAY.”

“Don’t you dare,” He said and pointed a playfully warning finger at her. 

“Oh, I wouldn’t dream of it,” She said sarcastically. She held her hand out for the screwdriver now that she had thrown her banana peel away. Mr. Stark sighed and handed it over. Penny bent down, shook the table, and tightened the screw that seemed to be the culprit. When she stood, she stuck her tongue out, “Voila!” 

“Yeah, yeah, kid, you’re a genius,” Mr. Stark said though she could hear the underlying humor in his voice.

“Thanks!” She said sweetly and moved around the table, “What’s on the agenda today?” She asked and Mr. Stark looked over at her and raised his eyebrows, “What?” 

“We haven’t tried one of yours in a while. What have you been working on?” He gestured over to her corner where there was an extra desk. Currently there were blueprints piled up to ideas she’d had over the last couple of months.

“Really?” She asked excitedly and he nodded, “Oh my gosh. Then you have got to see this one!”

0~0~0

It was late when Penny entered the apartment that she lived in with her aunt. Her spider senses tingled any time she was here now. Things hadn’t been the same since May had found out about Spider-girl. She’d yelled and screamed and gotten so angry. God, she had been so angry.

And then? She’d found out Penny’s other secret. That she was gay. And that had been the straw that broke the camel’s back. They coinhabited the place now, but May didn’t speak to her anymore. Didn’t ask how school was going. She didn’t take Penny out for ice cream on her days off. She didn’t care. It broke Penny’s heart.

She hated coming here anymore. She spent as much time as she could either at school, on patrol, or at the tower. At this point, she preferred the tower and any of its occupants over this apartment. She considered the tower to be more of a home now.

Penny sighed and dropped her keys into the bowl next to the door. She made sure to lock it back before heading to her room down the hall. She paused briefly outside of May’s door and considered knocking. But the last time she’d tried that May had gotten so mad with her. Penny had cried nearly all night and had been exhausted the next day.

She continued down the hall and entered her room. As she shut the door, she kicked her shoes off and went to her closet, pulling out a pair of soft shorts and an oversized shirt to sleep in. She flopped onto her bed and wrapped her arm around her Iron Man teddy bear. It wasn’t the bear she’d been going for when she’d been playing the claw machine. She’d wanted to give Mr. Stark the Captain America bear as a joke. But she’d ended up with this one instead, and she’d kept it.

Penny plugged her Starkphone up and checked the messages she’d received while swinging home.

AngrySpider: Has anyone seen my knives?

Katniss: I think they’re in the gym… lodged in the wall from when you threw them at my head

AngrySpider: Oh yeah!

CaptainStarsAndStripes: Any reason why the front window is open so late?

BossMa’am: I believe that was Penny’s preferred method of entrance today.

SirGrumpy: I was wondering how she got past security

Penny couldn’t help but laugh at the whole interaction. This group chat was such a mess. Mr. Stark had assigned everyone’s names within the group, and try as they might, no one could break the server to change them. Any other message was normal, but this one was absolute chaos.

Spiderbaby: Sorry, Happy!

SirGrumpy: Gotta start putting locks on the windows now too

BossMa’am: Just leave it, Hap. It’s easier than her hitting the window at top speed.

Spiderbaby: Ms. Potts!

Mr.Fantastic: Is she wrong kid?

Spiderbaby:…

Mr.Fantastic: Well?

Spiderbaby:… no

BossMa’am: Alright, guys, it’s late. Penny needs her sleep. She has a big test tomorrow and she doesn’t need to sleep through it. Good night, Penny!

Penny couldn’t help but smile. Of course Ms. Potts knew that. The woman knew everything it seemed.

AngrySpider: Night!

Katniss: Good night

CaptainStarsAndStripes: Good night, Penny

SirGrumpy: Night

Mr.Fantastic: Night kid!

Spiderbaby: Good night, guys!!

Penny smiled as she set her alarm and clicked her phone off so she could put it on her bedside table. She missed her nightly chats with May, but these texts usually filled most of that void in her heart.

0~0~0

A few weeks later, Penny checked her phone at lunch to see a text from Mr. Stark.

Tony Stark: Hey kid. You down to stay at the tower this weekend? Wanda is in town and I know you two haven’t seen each other in a while. Rhodey’s here too.

Penny grinned. Wanda was like her sister, favorite cousin, and best friend all rolled into one. She always knew what Penny was feeling, which turned out to be pretty helpful as Penny normally hid her true feelings from everyone. Having someone call her out for it was actually therapeutic in a way.

Penny Parker: Definitely! I’ll text Aunt May.

Penny bit her lip. Here came the tough part. She hated communicating at all with May lately. Things had been strained between the two of them for months now, but lately it had seemed like May outright hated her.

Penny Parker: Is it okay if I stay at the tower this weekend?

She hit send and put the phone back down, trying to clue back into the conversation currently going on between MJ and Ned that she had missed. Her heartbeat jumped when the phone buzzed only a few moments later. May hadn’t been that quick replying in a while.

May Parker: Sure.

That was it. That was all she was going to get. But it was enough. She’d spend the weekend at the tower where she knew people cared for her, where she ate constantly because Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts both went into overdrive when it came to her eating habits and her crazy metabolism. She’d spend the weekend at the tower where she didn’t have to tip-toe around anyone and be super quiet so she wouldn’t disturb anyone. 

Penny Parker: Thanks!

She figured she would at least send off a thank you reply. She didn’t need to give May another reason to despise her.

Penny Parker: She said yes!

Tony Stark: Great. I’ll send Happy to pick you up from school. You have plenty of clothes here right?

Penny Parker: I do. Thanks, Mr. Stark!

Tony Stark: No problem kid. And please call me Tony! >:(

Penny grinned. He’d been trying to get her to stop calling him Mr. Stark forever now. She’d more or less started calling everyone else, except Ms. Potts, by their first names. 

Penny Parker: See you later Mr. Stark!

Tony Stark: Ugh

0~0~0

Penny and Wanda had squealed like any normal teenage girls after not seeing a friend for a while. And then they were both talking a mile a minute at the same time as they walked through the tower.

Pepper stood by completely amused, and Tony looked on wide-eyed. He turned to face his fiancé and reached out to pull her into his side, “I’m going to regret this aren’t I?” He asked and earned a giggle from her.

“Oh, leave them alone,” She murmured as she kissed him softly, “She’s young, she doesn’t have a bunch of superhero best friends who live with her,” She pointed out, “Plus out of all of the teenage girls on this planet, I think those are probably the most responsible two ever.”

“Hmm,” Tony hummed as she stepped around him into the kitchen, “You might be right.”

“I’m always right,” She said cheekily.

“You’re right,” He mumbled in defeat, but earned himself a smile thrown over her shoulder at him, “Can I help with dinner?” Pepper turned and attempted to smile at him, but it really just looked like a grimace. “What? I can help,” He said playfully.

“Oh, I know you can,” She cooed at him sarcastically as she leaned up on her toes and pecked his lips, “But why don’t you just stand here and look pretty, instead?” She asked him barely containing her smile and laugh. Tony crossed his arms and looked away from her, “Come on, Tones. I could use the company and conversation. But we both know what happened last time you helped,” She pointed out.

“Fine,” He relented and wrapped his arms around her, “But you owe me for hurting my feelings,” He said, smirk firmly in place.

“Of course.”

0~0~0

That night after dinner, where Penny had eaten more than the rest of them combined because each time her plate got close to empty Ms. Potts would put another serving on it, she and Wanda were sat close together on the couch in the rec room. They’d claimed the extra room after the second movie of the night and had decided they wanted to go talk and watch Gossip Girl.

“Hey, Pen?” Wanda asked suddenly and Penny looked over at her, “Are you okay?” She asked genuinely.

“Yeah, I am,” Penny said automatically. It was her default reaction.

“You know I know that isn’t true, Pen,” Wanda pointed out quietly, “You’re sad about something.”

Penny swallowed hard and bit at her lip, “You’re right,” She sighed and felt Wanda shift closer. Penny laid her head down on her shoulder, “My aunt and I aren’t getting along right now…well, we haven’t been for a while now,” Penny could feel tears start to sting her eyes, “I think she hates me, Wan,” She confessed.

“Why on Earth would she hate you?” The girl asked with surprise, “Everybody loves Penny Parker.”

Penny laughed softly at the joke, “Well, she doesn’t like that I’m Spider-girl,” Penny shrugged, “And she found out…” She trailed off and felt Wanda nudge her. She sat up to look at the other girl.

“She found out you’re gay?” She asked and Penny’s jaw dropped.

“How did you-” She started to ask and Wanda just smiled.

“Oh, come on, Pen. You love Blake Lively and Leighton Meester. Plus, I can read your feelings remember?” She said with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh, right,” Penny said with a laugh, “Is that… is that okay?” She asked hesitantly.

“Of course it is!” Wanda said and leaned back to where she had been. Penny leaned into her side again as well, “I still love you the same, Penny. And I doubt anyone else here would care either. They all love you so much.”

“Yeah?” Penny asked. She knew they cared for her. But she wasn’t ever sure how much.

“Yeah,” Wanda said and nodded, “So what’s been happening with your aunt?”

0~0~0

Wanda Maximoff: I think you should tell Tony and Pepper.

Penny furrowed her eyebrows at the text she’d just gotten. It had been a few days since Wanda had left again and this text was out of the blue.

Penny Parker: Tell them what?

Wanda Maximoff: About your aunt. They care about you Pen. They’d wanna know

Penny Parker: I don’t know Wan. I don’t think it would help anything.

Wanda Maximoff: Just think about it, okay?

Penny bit her lip. When she’d gotten home from the tower Sunday night, May had been in the living room reading. She didn’t even look up. Penny had tried to talk to her and May had blatantly ignored her attempts. The girl had eventually given up and headed to her room with tears spilling over her cheeks as she did so. 

Penny Parker: Okay.

0~0~0

Another month passed and if things had been tense between her and her aunt before, they were ten times worse now. It was like Penny even being in the same apartment as May was irritating her. Penny could feel it. It ate her up inside. She felt like crying any time she thought about it.

The issues between them had bled into her life outside of the apartment too now. MJ and Ned had started to notice her somber moods. Natasha had asked if she was okay last week and didn’t really look like she believed Penny when she’d told her she was fine, but she had dropped it anyway. Clint had also asked her if something was bothering her, but she had assured him that she was fine as well.

It was getting harder and harder to lie to everyone. She felt upset nearly all the time now. May had been the only constant in her life for years. And now she wanted nothing to do with her. Penny had spent this weekend at the tower. She’d kill for weekends at the tower lately. It meant she didn’t have to hear insults thrown at her or pretend to ignore the daggers that were being stared at her any time she was in the same room as May.

It was time to go now, and Penny was in the room that had somehow become hers. She’d gone in to grab her bag, but she couldn’t pick it up. Not that it was heavy. But picking it up meant that she had to leave and go back to May’s. She took a seat on the bed and stared at the wall in front of her.

A few minutes passed and Penny nearly jumped out of her skin when a knock came at the door and Ms. Potts opened it, “Penny, sweetheart, are you okay?” She asked and looked at Penny truly concerned. She closed the door behind her as she made her way to the girl’s side and took a seat next to her.

Pepper was dressed in her comfy weekend clothes. A pair of jean shorts and a t-shirt. Penny liked her like this. She was less intimidating, she liked her anyway, but when she was dressed like this, she and Penny would talk for hours at a time.

“I’m fine,” She said and laughed, “I must have zoned out,” She said and went to stand. Ms. Potts caught her hand and gently tugged her to sit back down, “Ms. Potts,” Penny started and the woman shook her head.

“Penny, something is wrong.” Pepper said and from her tone, Penny could tell there was no room for argument on her end, “Is something going on at school?” She asked and Penny shook her head as she blinked rapidly. This was the first time in months that someone had sat her down and used a tone like this with her. A soft, caring tone. “What is it, sweetheart? Please tell me?” She pleaded with her.

“Ms. Potts,” Penny started and a few tears fell down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away as she turned her gaze away from the other woman, “Please, I’m fine.”

“Penny,” She cooed and reached out to gently weave her fingers through the girl’s dark hair, “Baby, I love you too much to watch you suffer in silence anymore,” She said and suddenly Penny felt like the air had been knocked out of her lungs. No one had said those words to her in so long.

She crumbled. She fell forward into Ms. Potts’ arms. And the woman caught her naturally and held her as she cried. She rubbed her hand over Penny’s back soothingly and whispered soothing reassurances in her ear.

“She hates me, Ms. Potts. She hates me,” Penny’s broken sobs finally turned into confession.

“Who hates you, Penny?” 

“May,” Penny choked out, “She hates me. She hates Spider-girl. She hates being near me. She talks about me. She tells me she doesn’t want me there. She barely even looks my direction anymore. I hate being there. I hate that she hates me. That she found out-” She stopped abruptly.

“That she found out what, baby?” Ms. Potts cooed at her and Penny sighed. She might as well finish it now and let everyone hate her.

“That I’m gay,” She whispered and felt Ms. Potts’ arms tighten around her. She didn’t let go. 

“Baby, are you sure that she hates you and this isn’t just over some-” Penny cut her off.

She pulled back and looked her in the eye, “She told me I wasn’t her niece. That I wasn’t related to her biologically and she doesn’t know why she ever took me in. She told me that I was disgusting and that she hates the sight of me. She told me that everything I do is wrong and that I’ll never amount to anything. She told me she picks up extra shifts so that she doesn’t have to be home when I’m there. She called me a nasty dyke,” Penny broke off in a sob, “She told me-” Pepper cut her off.

“No baby, don’t repeat anymore of it, okay?” She told her as she pulled her back into her arms. “I believe you. And none of what she said is true, Penny. You don’t have to go back there. We can go get your things and you’ll stay here.”

“Here?” Penny asked in shock and felt the woman nod against her. “But-”

“No buts,” Ms. Potts said, “You’re not going back there. You have a family here who loves you so much and Tony is going to want to kill her when he finds out anyway,” She pointed out. Penny’s eyes opened wide and she sat back and looked at Ms. Potts.

“You can’t tell him,” She pleaded with the woman.

“Penny, I have to tell him,” Ms. Potts said, “We have to tell him.”

0~0~0

Ms. Potts hadn’t let go of Penny’s hand as she’d led the girl back out of the room and down the hallway. The other Avengers had all headed down to the floor below where all of their rooms were, and Penny could only hear Tony shifting around in the kitchen.

“There are my girls,” Tony said as he spun around to look at them, “I was beginning to think we’d be here all night waiting on you two to-” He stopped talking when he looked at them. Pepper’s face was stone, giving nothing away to him. Penny had a near death grip on the woman’s hand and was also mostly hidden behind her. He could see that her eyes were red rimmed, and she had clearly been crying. “What is going on?” He asked in genuine concern.

“Penny is staying here,” Pepper said simply, and the girl glanced between the two with wide eyes.

“Okay,” Tony answered, “But what’s going on?” He asked.

“We’ll need to go to the apartment and get her things,” Pepper said instead of answering him. But this let him know that this would be more permanent than a night or two.

“Okay,” He answered again, “Pepper?” He asked again. What was going on?

Pepper tugged the hand in hers and pulled a hesitant Penny around her body. She tugged the girl in front of her to stand with her back against Pepper’s front so the woman could wrap her arms around the girl. She hadn’t let go of Penny’s hand and the other one came up to tangle in the mix as well. Tony would have thought the scene was adorable if it wasn’t clear that the two of them were in distress.

“Penny?” He asked softly now that she was settled in Pepper’s hold.

“I umm- I… I- I… Aunt May…” She stuttered before sighing and feeling tears start to track down her cheeks again.

“Penny, baby,” Pepper said softly as she squeezed the girl in her arms, “It’s okay. Tell him,” She prompted the girl and felt her deflate against her, “Penny is having some problems at home,” Pepper directed at him.

Tony felt his heart drop into his stomach as he watched the girl he considered to be his kid clearly upset and the woman he loved more than life itself comfort her. He stepped closer to them, his face soft and giving nothing away.

“I-I-I-” She started to breathe more quickly and felt Pepper’s arms around her tighten.

“Ms. Parker’s heart rate is elevated, and she seems to be having a panic attack,” Came the voice of FRIDAY.

“Thank you, FRI,” Tony said dismissively. “Come on, Underoos, calm down,” He said softly, “Hey, Penny?” He said after a few moments of watching the kid struggling, “Can you feel Pepper breathing?” He asked. Penny nodded shakily after a moment, “Good, good. Can you try to mimic that for me?” He asked softly.

It took a few more minutes, but Penny finally started to breathe normally. She was still visibly shaking, but she was starting to calm down some. Pepper had been whispering soothing words to her throughout the panic attack and hadn’t stopped yet. She was grateful to her for it.

“S-sorry,” Penny mumbled now that she could talk again.

“There’s nothing to apologize for, Penny,” Pepper assured her, “You are fine, darling, It’s fine.” She hadn’t let go of the girl yet and had no plans to do so any time soon, “Do you want me to tell him?” She asked gently.

“I-I can do it,” The girl whispered but didn’t look away from where her gaze had landed on her shoes. She took a deep breath, and then another, “Umm, Aunt May… Sh-she’s angry with me right now. She has been for a while,” Penny’s voice broke but she took a breath and kept going, “She, umm, she hates me, Mr. Stark. And she’s been- she’s been really mean and-” She shook her head and felt Pepper kiss the side of her head gently.

One of Pepper’s hands had moved from where they were linked with Penny’s and was now running through Penny’s hair comfortingly, “May doesn’t accept Spider-girl,” She said quietly, loud enough for Tony to hear her but not loud enough to break Penny out of the calm she had finally sort of settled into. Penny was thankful that she didn’t out her other secret. She left it up to her.

“She also…” She sighed.

“It’s okay, Pen. You don’t have to do all of this at one time,” Pepper told her.

“I want to get it all out. Who knows if I can do this again?” She said. She tried to say it sarcastically, but it really just came out kind of broken. “She, umm, she found out that I like girls,” She nearly whispered, but Tony heard her anyway. He stepped forward and she looked up with wide eyes, shining with tears yet to fall. When she saw that he wasn’t coming towards her in an angry manner, she fell forward into his arms.

Tony ended up with both of them in his arms. The two of them sandwiched the still upset girl between them. He met Pepper’s eyes over Penny’s head and could see her own tears there, threatening to fall as well. He shot her a knowing look.

When the three of them separated, Penny rubbed at her face, suddenly embarrassed at the whole ordeal. “So I’ll go get your things-” Tony was cut off.

“No, Mr. Stark. I’ll go get them,” She said as she shook her head, “I can do that. It should be me.”

“Pen, are you sure? I don’t mind. Or we could come with you?” He offered and Pepper nodded in agreement.

“No, no. I’ll be fine. She wouldn’t hurt me. I can do this.”

0~0~0

So Penny had washed her face and pulled her hair up into a ponytail. She’d assured Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts that she could do this and that if anything did happen, she would call them. She left, Starkphone tucked in her back pocket, hood pulled down low over her eyes, and swinging low and out of sight across the city.

She landed in the alley next to their apartment building and walked around to the front door. When she made it up to her apartment door, she took a deep breath, and let herself in. She listened for a moment before deciding that May was either asleep or in her room busy. She quietly closed the door and crept down to her room.

Penny set about grabbing what she absolutely needed and could carry while she swung. She grabbed her backpack and threw all of her books and school things into it. She also shoved her toothbrush, hairbrush, deodorant, toothpaste, ADHD medicine, lucky socks, and her sunglasses into it. Shouldering the backpack that was now full, she grabbed a second backpack that she normally used for weekend trips or extra-curricular activities. She threw three pairs of jeans (when had most of her jeans ended up at the tower anyway?), several of her shirts, her favorite MIT hoodie, her phone charger, and anything else she thought she might need into it. As she was grabbing the Iron Man teddy bear off of her bed, her senses lit up. She was too slow to spin around though.

“What do you think you’re doing?” May yelled and Penny had no time to react as May’s hand closed around her ponytail and yanked backwards.

“Aunt May, please!” Penny whimpered as she reached back to try and get any relief on the grip on her hair.

“You think you can just drop all your little secrets on me, be a little bitch, and then sneak out?” May sneered and Penny wiggled to get free. She could easily, she knew. But she couldn’t hurt May. She was the only family she had left. “You worthless piece of shit, where do you think you’re going to go anyway? Nobody wants you.”

Penny felt her phone buzz in her pocket and figured it was probably Mr. Stark checking in on her. She really should be done by now and she’d told him she would let him know when she left the apartment and was on her way back.

“Aunt May, you’re hurting me!” Penny tried again.

“I’m not your aunt!” May yelled and tugged even harder on the hair in her hand, “How did I not see it before? You disgust me. You’ll have to come crawling back here anyway. Like I said, no one wants you.”

“You’re wrong,” A booming voice rang out and Penny hit the floor as May’s grip on her hair released in shock. She scrambled away from the woman before looking up and seeing Iron Man stood in the doorway of her bedroom, “Go find Pepper, Penny,” Mr. Stark said to her, but his eyes never left May.

“Mr. Stark-” Penny tried to protest, but she was cut off.

“Penny, go downstairs. Find Pepper,” He said again, and she knew better than to argue this time. She stood, grabbed the bag she had dropped, and snatched the bear off of her bed. She took a wide berth around her aunt and shot Mr. Stark a grateful look as she slid passed him out of the door. 

Penny left out of the apartment quickly and took the stairs two at a time. When she flew through the front door out onto the sidewalk, she nearly knocked Pepper over in her haste. “Woah, baby, hey.” Pepper said as she steadied the girl. Penny turned to look up towards the apartment building, “Are you okay, Penny?” She asked and Penny whipped her head back around to look at her. She hadn’t realized she was still crying until right now.

“Ye-yeah,” She stuttered out as she turned her head again to look at the apartment, “H-he’s not going to kill her, is he?” She asked softly and felt Pepper gently grab her arm and tug her towards the waiting car.

“I doubt he’d go that far. Though he was pretty pissed off,” Pepper answered her. She took the bags from the girl who probably hadn’t even realized she was doing so yet, and placed them in the trunk of the car. She smirked at the sight of the teddy bear but chose not to comment on it and put it with the girl’s things. “Come on,” She whispered softly and gently pushed Penny down into the back seat where she had just opened the car door. She made sure Penny’s hands and feet weren’t near the door and closed it.

Pepper rounded the car and climbed into the back seat with the girl who was still craning her neck to look up at the apartment building, “Penny?” She called gently and the girl turned to face her after a beat, “Penny, are you really okay?” She asked and Penny opened her mouth to reply her normal ‘yes’ and get it over with. But she couldn’t force the word to come out of her mouth. She closed it after a moment and just shook her head, “Come here, sweetheart,” She murmured and pulled the girl into her arms.

“I didn’t- I never thought…” The girl sighed, “Why does she hate me so much?” Penny asked brokenly and Pepper felt hot tears soak her shirt. God, she hated seeing this normally so tough girl like this.

“I don’t know, Pen. I personally think she’s crazy,” Pepper said softly and earned just the hint of a smile, “I mean she’s met you, right?” She asked and cradled the back of the girl’s head. Penny flinched violently, head still tender from May pulling on her hair, “Oh, Penny, I’m so sorry.” She whispered as the girl recoiled.

“It’s okay,” Penny whispered as she sat up from where she’d been leaning against the woman, “It’s not your fault.”

“Can I, darling?” She asked as she motioned towards Penny’s hair. The girl was silent for a moment before nodding and spinning in the seat. She sat with her back to Pepper and pulled her knees up under her chin. “I’m sorry in advance, baby.”

“It’s fine,” Penny said. Pepper then gently gripped the base of Penny’s ponytail and slowly, and as gently as she could, released all of the hair from the hair tie. When she was finished, she lowered the mass of hair slowly and then gently combed her fingers through the curls and massaged her scalp, “Thank you,” Penny whispered.

Pepper leaned forward and hugged the girl back against her, similar to the position they had been in when stood in the kitchen only about an hour earlier, “You’re very welcome,” She said softly and kissed the back of Penny’s head, “Okay, now I might be a little worried that he’s killed her. What is taking so long?”

Penny breathed out a laugh in response, but she was assuming about the same thing right now. The only thing keeping her from going back up those stairs was Pepper’s arms around her and linked together over her stomach.

They both breathed out a sigh of relief when Tony exited the building a few moments later. He pressed a button on the suit, and it folded up into a handheld case. The travel suit. Penny had been working with him on it for months. She didn’t know he’d finally perfected it.

The man opened the door and sat down in the driver’s seat. He looked back and sent a look to both of them asking ‘are you alright’. In response, Penny nodded and Pepper tightened her hold on the girl. “She won’t be bothering you again.”

“Mr. Stark?”

“I didn’t kill her,” He said and earned two sets of perfectly raised eyebrows. Wow, now he had double the amount of that. He almost laughed at the thought. “I didn’t. But she is indisposed at the moment. So, if there is anything up there that you want, now’s the time to get it, kid.”

Penny looked at the building for a long moment before shaking her head, “I don’t want any of it,” She whispered and they both heard the double meaning behind her words.

“Alright then. Let’s go home,” Tony said as he put the key in the ignition.

“Put your seatbelt on,” Pepper said and suddenly she had both of them laughing at her, “What?”

“She’s superhuman, Pep. A seatbelt isn’t going to do much,” Tony pointed out and Pepper shot him a glare.

“I don’t care, Tony. She’s still a child,” Pepper said and Penny giggled.

“It’s fine,” Penny said as she reached for the belt, “I’ll wear it.”

0~0~0

Penny took the hottest shower she could stand when they got to the tower. She felt like she could smell the apartment all over her. For the first time in her life, that smell nearly made her sick. She scrubbed until her skin was bright pink. She washed her hair gently, using anything that didn’t smell like the strawberry shampoo she used at the apartment.

The girl stepped out of the shower after finally being satisfied that she was clean for the moment. She toweled her hair as well as she could and tied a towel around her body as she stepped out of the bathroom that was connected to her usual room and into the room itself.

Penny furrowed her eyebrows as she looked around. Her bags weren’t where she’d left them. She checked the closet, but nothing was there either now. What the hell?

Penny double checked that she was covered by the towel around her before she poked her head out into the hallway. She looked up and down the hallway before sighing, “FRIDAY?” She called.

“Yes, Ms. Parker?”

“Where are Mr. Stark and Ms. Potts?” She asked the AI.

“Mr. Stark is one floor below and Ms. Potts is in the main room,” The AI answered her. She thanked FRIDAY and cautiously slipped out and down the hallway.

“Umm,” She said and Pepper turned around and looked at her. She quickly stood from the couch and walked over to the girl. “I can’t find any of my clothes,” Penny whispered and looked at her curiously.

“That would be my fault,” Pepper said sheepishly, “I figured the long shower was to wash the apartment off of you?” Penny looked at her incredulously. How did she know that? She nodded. “I also assumed that the clothes that smelled like the apartment wouldn’t be the best thing for you right now,” Pepper continued, and Penny nodded after a moment. She didn’t even think about that. “So they’re all in the wash.”

Penny nodded once again and then looked down at herself, still clad in only a towel and her hair still wet. Pepper laughed at the girl’s expression, “Anything on the left side of my closet is yours for the taking, baby. I mean, the right too, if you want,” Pepper said with a shrug and a laugh, “But I didn’t figure you’d want a business suit.”

Penny giggled and thanked the woman before heading in the direction of their shared room. She stepped into the woman’s closet and made her way to the left side. Penny quickly reached out and grabbed an oversized long-sleeved t-shirt that looked more like Pepper had stolen it from Tony than bought for herself. She also grabbed a pair of soft shorts. She made her way back to her room, changed, and hung her towel up in the bathroom. 

The girl shook her hair out but didn’t think she could stomach brushing through it right now. Once she was finished, she made her way back down the hallway and listened. She couldn’t hear Mr. Stark yet, but she could hear Ms. Potts moving around in the kitchen. Penny followed the sounds and found the woman putting ingredients in a bowl. Penny furrowed her eyebrows and checked the time on the stove. Yeah, it was late.

Pepper turned around and shot her a smile, “That’s my favorite shirt too,” She said easily as she spun back around and placed the mixing bowl under the stand mixer and turned it on.

“Oh, I can go put it-” Pepper shook her head before the girl even finished the thought.

“My favorite solely because the man still fights with me over it. So good luck,” Pepper said with a wink and earned a small smile, “I’m making cookies,” Pepper said in explanation to the girl’s glance towards the mixer. She laughed at the confused look she got in return, “I figured it would be a while before anyone went to bed around here. And spider-children eat a lot.”

Penny blushed and ducked her head but walked over towards the woman anyway. Pepper’s arm immediately reached out and wrapped around her waist to pull the girl into her side. She pressed a kiss to the side of her head, “You okay?” She whispered softly and earned a nod, “Do you want me to brush your hair?” She asked and the girl looked at her in shock once again. She just gave her a knowing look.

“Would you?” She asked after a moment, and Pepper could hear that she was still unsure.

“I would love to,” Pepper murmured against her. “Let me get these in the oven, and we’ll take care of that, okay?”

0~0~0

When Tony stepped off of the elevator and back into the apartment floor, he was met with the smell of Pepper’s famous cookies in the oven, and the sight of his two favorite people in the main room. Penny was sat on the floor in front of the woman who was perched on the couch behind her. She was spraying something, detangling spray, Tony recognized, on Penny’s hair before gently pulling a wide-toothed comb through it. 

As he rounded the couch, Penny’s eyes were closed, but she didn’t look like it hurt. He really didn’t know what he would do without Pepper. “Are those cookies for me?” He asked and Pepper just raised an eyebrow up at him, “Well?” He asked when he received no answer.

“You know better. I don’t make them for you anymore because last time you bribed Clint with them to get him to climb through the vent system,” Penny giggled at this new information and opened her eyes to look up at her mentor’s face.

“I did no such thing,” Tony said, hand to his chest and face aghast, “How dare you accuse me of such a thing.”

“FRIDAY, pull up the footage from the last time I let Tony have cookies,” Pepper said and Tony’s demeanor quickly changed.

“FRIDAY, do not. Point made,” He said to his fiancé who just smirked at him. “How you feeling, kid?” He asked.

“Clean,” Penny answered with a shrug. She had her eyes closed again and Tony looked to Pepper in confusion. The woman shook her head, a clear sign that they’d talk about it later. He nodded after a moment.

“You’re going to share with me, right?” The man asked, referencing the cookies once again.

Penny cracked an eye open to look at him, “I dunno, Mr. Stark,” The girl said playfully, “I think Ms. Potts is counting on me eating whatever she doesn’t,” She answered him. Pepper laughed in response and nodded her agreement.

“I’m hurt,” He said, copying his earlier pose for dramatic effect.

“All done,” Pepper said when she’d finally worked the comb through all of Penny’s hair.

“Woah,” Penny mumbled, “Thank you,” She said genuinely as she stood from the floor.

“Is that my shirt?” Tony asked and earned himself two identical laughs. “What?”

0~0~0

A few hours into the Star Wars trilogy, Pepper had left to take a shower. This left Penny and Mr. Stark on the couch, plate of cookies between them slowly disappearing. Penny had a thought suddenly and turned to face her mentor.

“Mr. Stark?” She asked quietly and watched as the man turned to give her his undivided attention. “How did you… You both were there so quickly… How did you… know?” She finally settled on and hoped the man understood what she was trying to ask him.

He smiled softly at her and grabbed the remote to mute the movie. It wasn’t like both of them hadn’t seen it several times anyway. “You know that Karen is built into your phone, right?” He asked her and she nodded, “Well there’s a special feature that allows her to detect physical distress and altercations. It has always stayed off; I didn’t feel right about invading your privacy like that. But something didn’t feel right tonight, so I turned it on. The moment your senses went into overdrive, I was alerted. I figured we go then and if it was just a fluke, we’d just be there to help you carry whatever back here. But it wasn’t, and I’m glad that we could be there.”

Penny took it all in and nodded after a moment. That explained the vibration her phone had given while she was in the apartment. She didn’t see a notification when she had finally checked it and had assumed it was just a glitch. Now she understood. “But Ms. Potts got there so fast. I mean I understand how you got there as quickly as you did. But she was driving right?”

Tony let out a genuine laugh at the question, “Pepper drives like a bat out of hell anyway,” He said with a smirk.

“I heard that, Tony!” Was shouted from down the hallway. The man’s smirk fell and he shot the kid a look before snatching a cookie and running off into the apartment in the opposite direction that Pepper was coming from, “Okay,” She said as she entered the room, “Where did that man-child go?”

“No idea,” Penny said as she turned back to the screen so Pepper couldn’t see her amused expression.

“I do not drive like a crazy person,” Pepper said as she retook her former seat on the couch next to the girl.

“I believe you,” Penny said, “But how did you get across town so fast?” She asked and they heard a chuckle come from the direction that Tony had ran in. Both of them rolled their eyes at that.

“Okay, so I drove like a crazy person tonight then.”

0~0~0

Penny didn’t sleep well. She tossed and turned, she talked to FRIDAY and Karen, she checked some things on her phone, and she finally fell asleep around 5 AM. 

The girl stretched as she woke and checked the time. She was suddenly up and running into the bathroom. She was already an hour late for school. The girl flew through washing her face and brushing her teeth. She remembered that her clothes weren’t currently in her room and ran down the hallway towards the elevator to go down to where the laundry was.

A chorus of “Morning, Penny!” Was heard as she ran by the main room and she called out her good morning before suddenly stopping and skidding at the elevator. She walked back into the main room to see everyone there. Everyone. Natasha and Clint were playing Mario Cart, Steve was reading a book, Tony was tinkering with some random blueprint, and Pepper was curled up next to him with her Starktablet in her lap.

“Umm, I’m late?” She said more like a question than anything.

“You’ve already been called out of school for the day. FRIDAY said you didn’t sleep much so we figured a day wouldn’t hurt anything,” Pepper answered her without looking up from whatever she was doing. Penny furrowed her eyebrows and bit at her bottom lip. She never missed school. Especially not lately, it meant she got more time away from the apartment. 

After a few moments, Pepper seemed to notice her silence and turned to look at the girl who seemed to be zoned out. She stood, dropped her tablet on the couch, and walked over to her. Penny blinked at the sudden proximity. “Are you okay?” She asked quietly, as to not clue the other Avengers into the conversation. Penny nodded in response, “I mean, you can go to school if you want?” Pepper said unsurely. Penny thought about it for a moment. She really was exhausted.

“No,” She shook her head, “Thank you. That was probably a smart decision,” She told the woman in front of her.

“Good,” Pepper said, then, “Let’s get some food into you then, you garbage disposal.”

0~0~0

Natasha sighed grumpily after being beaten by Penny for the third time in a row. She looked over at the girl beside her, down to her controller, and back up to her smirking face, “How the hell are you doing that?”

“Language!” Was called out by all of the adults around them and Penny giggled in response to Natasha flipping them all off.

“Face it, Nat, she’s better than you,” Clint said from his spot on the other side of Penny. Granted he had been losing to both of them, but he didn’t seem to mind as much, not with a coffee all but glued to his hand, anyway. The woman threw a pillow at him, but he caught it laughing. “But, for real, how are you doing that?” He then asked her, and she leaned over and showed him a few things.

“Seriously, kid? I asked first!” Natasha said playfully, “I’m taking you down next time we train.”

“Don’t bet on it,” Penny said cheekily.

“Not to ruin… whatever this is,” Pepper said from behind them. She had left the main room a few hours ago to get some work done, “But I need to borrow Penny for a while,” She said once she had their attention.

The girl in question put her controller up and stood from her place between the two spies. She looked down at herself and realized she was still wearing Pepper’s shorts and shirt. She bit her lip as she looked back up at the woman, “Any chance I have time to change first?”

“Sure. Just come find me when you’re ready, okay?” She said and earned a smile and a nod.

0~0~0

Penny had changed into her own clothing, tied her favorite sneakers onto her feet, and headed towards Pepper’s office. She knocked softly on the door jamb as she entered and the woman looked up at her with a smile on her face, “Hey, darling, have a seat. I’m finishing up an email really quick,” She said.

Penny sat down across from her and glanced around the office. What was this about, anyway? She was nervous. Ms. Potts was being all… professional and Penny had no clue what she was doing in here.

She heard the sound of an email being sent off and looked back towards Pepper, “Okay, we need to discuss a few things,” The woman said, and Penny nodded but didn’t trust her voice to reply. “I need to get your statement and see the texts that I’m sure have been sent by your aunt over the last few months. We also need to discuss school, patrol hours, and weekends. And I’m pretty sure you’re going to need a desk for your room, so we’ll look at some furniture,” Pepper said as she opened a desk drawer and fished around for whatever she was looking for. Penny let out a relieved sigh. She didn’t know what she’d been expecting, but this wasn’t it. Pepper heard her and looked up, apologetic expression on her face, “Sorry, darling. I went into ‘CEO mode’ on you. I didn’t mean to upset you or anything.”

“No, Ms. Potts, it’s okay,” Penny said as she shook her head, “Really.”

“Okay, let’s start with the hard stuff, get that over with, and move onto everything else. Sound good?” She asked and Penny gave her a nod, “Great. So…”

0~0~0

Penny had told the woman everything that had gone on between her and May over the last few months. She’d then handed her phone over and watched the woman’s face get angrier and angrier as she scrolled through the messages between the two of them. Penny’s were always bright and upbeat, as the girl was in day-to-day life anyway. But May’s were tense and cruel. They’d started to get worse over the course of the last few weeks. 

Pepper looked up at Penny when she was finished. The girl looked nervous. She knew those texts weren’t normal. That they were malevolent. She didn’t want anyone else reading them, but she figured if it had to be anyone, she preferred it to be Pepper.

“Penny, baby,” The woman whispered, “I’m so sorry,” She continued and got up to round the desk. She took a seat in the chair next to the girl, “Why didn’t you say anything?” She asked as she reached out and tapped the girl just below the lip she was currently chewing on. Penny released her lip immediately. God, she needed to break that habit soon.

“Umm, I thought I could handle it. It was just words and it wasn’t like she was really hurting me,” Penny mumbled as she looked down at her hands in her lap.

“Penny, I know you’re the toughest kid I’ve ever met, but even spider-children have feelings,” Pepper said softly. Penny met her eyes and nodded after a moment, “I’m sorry that no one noticed.”

“It’s not your fault,” Penny was quick to assure her.

“It’s not yours either,” Pepper told her just as quickly.

Once all of that was settled, the two of them moved onto lighter things. Penny was, of course, expected to stay in school, maintain her grades, and join as many extra curriculars as she wanted. She could patrol after school if she wanted until 6 PM when she needed to be home for dinner and to do her homework. The weekends were hers for the taking. She had a 2 AM curfew if she was patrolling, she could go over to someone’s house so long as she let an adult at the tower know (preferably either Mr. Stark or Ms. Potts), and anyone she wanted to bring over was more than welcome.

“Wait, wait, wait,” Penny said and Pepper looked at her amused, “I can bring people here?” She asked and Pepper nodded her agreement, “Teenagers?” Pepper gave another nod, a slower one this time, “Into the chaos tower?” She asked incredulously.

“Ah,” Pepper said in understanding, “Yes,” She said simply, then continued, “Of course, NDAs would have to be signed. But, yes, this is going to be your home. You’re more than welcome to have people over.”

Penny felt her heart skip a beat. Sure, she’d realized she would be staying at the tower for a while, but to hear someone call it her home? That was on an entirely different level. Ms. Potts must have noticed something in her look as she thought about all of this, “What is it, Penny?” She asked softly.

“Oh, nothing,” Penny said quickly and shook her head. The woman just raised an eyebrow, “Umm,” Penny looked away from her, “I don’t know. I guess I j-just didn’t expect you to call this my home,” She finished quietly.

“Oh, darling. Of course it’s your home. Tony and I are planning to become your legal guardians.”

Penny felt like all of the air was knocked out of her lungs at that statement, “What?” She asked, wide eyed and shocked.

Pepper’s face fell marginally before she masked it quickly, “Well, of course it could be temporary,” She said hesitantly, “Or, I guess we don’t necessarily have to-” Penny cut her off.

“No, Ms. Potts!” She started quickly and caught the woman’s raised eyebrows, “It’s not you guys. I just didn’t figure anyone wanted me,” She ended with a whisper, “I figured I could stay here until I found someone to take me,” She explained.

“Kid,” Penny and Pepper both looked up suddenly when Tony spoke. He was standing in the doorway, “I told your aunt when she said that bullshit and I’ll tell you,” He said as he stepped into the office, “That’s not true. And we want you.”

“Sorry,” Penny said and looked down at her shoes. 

“There’s no reason to apologize so I’m not accepting it, Underoos,” The man said as he leaned back against Pepper’s desk, “You’re wanted here, you’ve got plenty of family here, we want you, and we’ll be here for you as long as you want us and even when you don’t,” Tony told her.

Penny grinned and nodded. She stood, hugged her mentor tightly, and giggled at the groan he let out. The kid was strong, damn. She then tugged Pepper up, out of her chair, and into a hug as well. The woman hugged her back tightly. Penny then turned and was almost out of the door before she turned back, “Mr. Stark?”

“Tony,” He corrected and she laughed.

“Anyway,” She said playfully, “Language,” She said in response to his earlier word use. Then she was gone. Tony just shook his head as he looked at the space where she’d just disappeared from.

Pepper looked over at him, eyes soft, before she was moving into his arms and breathing in deeply, “I love you, Tony Stark,” She whispered against his shoulder, “So much more than you could ever imagine.” His no-nonsense way of dealing with Penny in that moment had been the exact right thing to do. Listening to him talk to the girl had warmed Pepper’s heart.

“Well, Ms. Potts, I wouldn’t know about that, but I do know that I love you crazy amounts,” He whispered and gladly accepted her kiss. “We’re doing this right?” He asked when they pulled apart a few moments later. He gestured at the door where the kid had left, “All in?” He asked her.

“All in,” Pepper agreed.

0~0~0

It had been nearly a month since Penny had said goodbye to her old apartment and moved into the tower. She’d settled in well so far. She was happy and thriving if you asked her. 

She and Natasha trained nearly every day, which she loved. She and Clint bonded over iced coffee and he was also teaching her archery. Steve was teaching her the correct way to build muscle for her frame and spotted her whenever she lifted weights.

She and Pepper spent as much time together as the CEO had time for. She often made sure not to schedule any kind of meeting after 6 PM so that she wasn’t working when Penny was home. The two of them baked together and Pepper had even taught her the famous cookie recipe (as long as she promised not to teach it to Tony of course). The woman had taken to brushing her hair every night after she showered. It wasn’t something she’d asked for or expected; a few nights after the day she’d officially moved in, she was ripping a brush through her hair quickly as she got ready for bed. The woman had removed the brush from her hand, sat the girl down, and gently brushed her hair out for her. She’d done it nearly every night since. Penny loved it. She loved Pepper.

She and Tony spent so much time together that Pepper had to ban the girl from the lab at certain hours. When she caught onto the fact that Penny was getting up extra early to work in the lab, or staying up extra late to do the same, she’d put up a schedule that Tony and Penny both were expected to abide by. They’d groaned about it but did eventually go with it. The two of them worked on her suit, his cars, the AI systems in the tower, security upgrades, and anything else they could think up. 

The three of them found time to be together as well. Each night, they sat down and watched the next episode of whatever series they happened to be watching at the time. Penny always ended up sandwiched between them, head on one of their shoulders. On the few occasions that she remembered falling asleep on the couch, she always woke up the next morning in her bed. She had a family. It was all she’d ever really wanted.

0~0~0

“Ms. Potts?”

“Pepper,” The woman corrected. It was more or less a running joke at this point. She and Tony both did it to the girl who still called them Ms. Potts and Mr. Stark. “Yes, darling?” She asked as she turned around to the girl standing behind her in the kitchen. She was dressed in the same soft shorts and long sleeve t-shirt she’d borrowed that first night. Penny had washed them and given them back to Pepper, but they’d ended up tucked into her things again. She’d asked the woman about it but Pepper had just shrugged and told her to keep them. They were her favorite pajamas now.

“Umm,” She mumbled and Pepper really looked at the girl now. She looked pale and she could see that the girl was in pain now that she really looked. She was across the kitchen in moments.

“Penny, are you okay?” She asked and brought her hand up to the girl’s forehead. She was slightly fevered, but not too hot.

“Yeah, yeah. I’m okay,” Penny whispered and Pepper raised her eyebrows. “Umm, it’s just cramps,” The girl said slightly embarrassed and Pepper sighed in relief. “I was wondering if you had Midol or something?”

“I do, darling, but will it even work on you and all your super-DNA?” She asked as she reached out and ran her fingers soothingly through Penny’s curls.

“Shit,” Penny whispered, “I didn’t think about that.” Tony was out of the tower this weekend. He’d gone with Steve and Rhodey somewhere or another to pick up new parts for a suit and for some kind of training exercise as well.

“Language,” Came her automatic reply. It was the normal reply from anyone in the tower now. Especially since Penny had moved in. “I’m sure we can figure something out between us, Pen. Go take a seat on the couch and I’ll see if Dr. Cho is downstairs,” She said as she cupped Penny’s cheeks in her hands. She pressed a kiss to the girl’s forehead before ushering her out of the room.

Pepper grabbed her phone and called Helen. She wasn’t in the building, but was able to tell Pepper exactly where the Penny-strength pain killers were. Pepper headed down, found the bottle she needed, grabbed one for now, and headed back up to the girl.

When she stepped back into the kitchen, she grabbed the Spider-girl water bottle that had been bought as a joke, filled it, and took it and the pill into Penny. The girl was curled up in the middle of the couch, knees to her chin, and a blanket around her shoulders. She’d look absolutely adorable if she wasn’t miserable at the moment.

“I come bearing spider-drugs,” Pepper said as she held the items out.

Penny snorted, “Thank you,” She whispered as she grabbed the pill and water from the woman. She eyed the water bottle and smirked before downing the pill. Pepper disappeared back out of the room and Penny pulled her legs closer, trying her best to curl in on herself. The woman reappeared only a few moments later and took a seat on the couch. She brought her own legs up under her and tugged the girl into her arms. Penny settled lying against the woman who was putting out more heat than Penny could ever dream of maintaining with her spider-DNA. “Don’t you have stuff to do?” She asked after a few moments. She didn’t want to be the reason that nothing got done today.

“You’re way more important, baby,” Pepper whispered as she soothingly ran her fingers through Penny’s curls, “Are you comfortable?” The woman asked her, and Penny nodded against her chest, “Do you need anything else?” She received a shake of the girl’s head. “Great,” Pepper said softly and could feel the girl physically relaxing against her, “Tell me about your latest project then,” Pepper requested and Penny couldn’t help but grin.

The woman often did this. She loved talking with the girl, but she didn’t understand all of the tech-y jargon that Penny and Tony used. So she’d ask the girl to tell her about whatever she was excited about and she would sit and listen to Penny ramble until her heart was content. She loved to watch Penny truly happily explain something and Penny loved Pepper for never telling her that she talked too much or was too dorky.

Penny started talking softly about some upgrades on the Iron Man suit that she’d suggested and Tony had actually agreed to. As she talked, Pepper could hear the exhaustion seeping into her voice. When she stopped making sense, the woman just smiled and dropped a kiss to unruly curls, “I love you, Penny Parker.”

The half-asleep girl sighed, “I love you too, Pepper.”

0~0~0

After calling both of their phones and going to voicemail each time, Tony started to worry. “FRIDAY,” He said to the phone system he had, “Where are Pepper and Penny?”

“Ms. Potts and Ms. Parker are both in the tower, sir,” Tony furrowed his eyebrows.

“Are they busy?” He asked the AI.

“Both appear to be sleeping, sir,” Tony checked the time. 3:24 PM, maybe for the teenager, but Pepper? That made absolutely no sense.

“What?” He asked in confusion. Suddenly he could see live feed from the main room. Pepper was curled into the corner of the couch with Penny draped across her lap. Penny’s head was on the woman’s chest and she was snuggled into the woman whose arms were wrapped around her shoulders. A blanket was wrapped around Penny’s frame. He couldn’t help but screenshot the sight. “Is everything okay, FRIDAY?”

“It appears that Ms. Parker is menstruating,” The AI informed him. Tony nodded. “Ms. Potts was able to locate the pain medication designed specifically for her. Penny’s slight fever has been reduced and her body seems less tense than it was an hour ago, sir.”

“Good, thank you,” Tony said in response, “FRI, order some of that chocolate that Pepper likes to be delivered to the tower.”

“How much would you like me to order, sir?”

Tony thought for a moment, “Triple the amount I normally order for Pepper.”

“Ordered, sir.”

0~0~0

As Penny started to wake, she burrowed into the warm body beneath her. She heard a soft giggle come from Pepper and felt the woman’s fingers start to card through her hair, “Are you feeling any better, baby?” Penny nodded against her. She felt Pepper’s hand against her forehead, “You feel cooler,” Pepper commented.

“What time is it?” Penny mumbled.

“It’s 4:44 PM,” Came FRIDAY’s response. Penny laughed; she should have known the AI would beat Pepper to answering her. But now she felt guilty. She sat up slowly and sat back on her heels as she wrapped the blanket tightly around herself.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to waste your day, Ms. Potts.” The girl said without looking up.

Pepper leaned forward and pushed the hair off the girl’s face, “First,” She said softly, “Pepper.” She earned the faintest smile, “Second,” She continued, “None of that. None of my day was wasted. I love spending my days with you. I wouldn’t change a thing,” She said as she cupped the girl’s face in her hands and rubbed her thumbs back and forth over the girl’s cheek bones.

“But still, you probably had plans today and-” Pepper cut her off.

“Penny, my plans for the day were to hang out with you and to make dinner. And I don’t have to worry about the second one because Tony had dinner delivered just a few minutes ago,” She told the girl, “I don’t want you to ever worry about me wasting my time with you. I love you, Penny. Even if I had had things to do today, I would have moved them all to get to be right here,” She finished and kissed the girl’s forehead, “Now let’s eat, darling.”

Penny laughed at her and stood from the couch, “Ms. Potts?”

“Pepper,” She heard the girl giggle before she spoke again.

“Pepper,” Penny corrected herself and the woman felt her heart melt.

“Yes, baby girl?” She asked as she wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led them into the kitchen.

“I love you too.”

0~0~0

A few weeks later, Penny was running barefoot through the tower towards the kitchen. She was supposed to already be in the gym downstairs to train with Natasha, but she’d gotten caught up reading about the biomechanics of interspace travel and lost track of time. She’d thrown on her favorite bright red sports bra and a pair of short black running shorts. She’d tied her hair up into a high bun as well to keep it out of her way.

Pepper laughed as the girl barreled into the kitchen and handed her the bottle of water she knew the girl was after. “Thanks, Pepper!” She chirped and kissed the woman’s cheek as she slid passed her towards the elevator.

“Woah,” Penny froze and turned to her mentor whose voice had stopped her in her tracks, “Where are you going?” He asked her.

“Downstairs,” She said as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder in the direction of the elevator, “To the gym,” She continued, “To meet Natasha,” She finished each statement evenly. She heard Pepper snort but the woman chose not to intervene.

“Dressed like that?” Tony asked and the girl’s jaw dropped. She heard Pepper attempt to cover another laugh.

“Well… yeah,” Penny mumbled as she looked down at herself, “This is normally what I train in,” She told the man.

“Go put some more clothes on,” Tony murmured and gestured in the vague direction of her room.

“Mr. Starrrrk,” She whined, “I’m already late,” She pointed out.

“This conversation is making you later,” He told her.

“Tony, we both know that Nat works out in less clothing than that half the time,” Pepper pointed out. Penny shot her a grateful look.

“Nat isn’t fourteen years old,” Tony said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, “More clothing. Go.”

Penny rolled her eyes, put the bottle of water down on the counter, and trudged back to her room. “You really just went all ‘dad’ on her,” Pepper said as she moved across the kitchen and wound her arms around Tony’s waist.

“I did not,” He said defiantly.

“You most certainly did. And it was adorable,” Pepper murmured as she kissed his jaw line chastely, “She’s most certainly going to be pissed at you for at least the next hour or two though.”

Penny reappeared a few moments later, scowl in place, a pair of sweatpants, a large t-shirt, and even a pair of socks on her feet. She looked to the man and held her hands out by her sides, a clear ‘good enough?’ question.

“Better,” Tony said and Penny sighed, grabbed the water, and entered the elevator. He waited until the elevator had made it to the next floor before bursting into laughter, “Okay, I think you’re right.”

0~0~0

Penny entered the gym and found Natasha already there taking shots at a punching bag, “Nice of you to join me,” She called out teasingly and then looked at the girl, “The hell are you wearing?” She asked with an amused look on her face.

Penny shot her a look as she stripped her shirt off over her head and shimmied out of her pants, “Language,” She said as she hopped around trying to remove her socks. “Mr. Stark made me go change,” She threw the pair onto the pile of clothes once she had them both off. She was once again in the same outfit Tony had made her change out of.

Natasha laughed, “That what you were wearing?” She asked the girl as she gestured towards the current outfit. Penny nodded as she started to stretch. Natasha might kick her ass anyway, but she would definitely kick her ass if she didn’t stretch first. “So he went all ‘protective dad’ on you?” The girl would have fallen over if she hadn’t already been on the ground to stretch out her back and hips.

“What?” She asked quickly and looked up wide eyed.

“The man made you go change, маленький паук. He totally ‘dad’ed you,” Natasha said with a smirk. She watched as Penny thought back through the whole encounter before the briefest flicker of a smile flitted across her lips. The disgruntled frown that had been on her face when she’d walked in was definitely not present anymore.

Penny looked up and caught Natasha watching her knowingly, “Whatever,” She said, but she blushed. She knew Natasha understood. They’d had conversations before about being orphans. They got each other. It was a close bond. “We gonna train or what?”

“Bring it on, маленький паук,” Natasha taunted.

“You got it, тетя паук.”

0~0~0

Hot, sweaty, and barely dressed, Penny headed back upstairs to the penthouse for dinner. Natasha took a quick detour to shower and told Penny she’d be up in a few. It was “family dinner” for the entire team tonight. While in the elevator, Penny looked down at herself. She sighed and tugged the t-shirt back on over her head before the doors opened.

Pepper looked up in time to see Penny walk into the penthouse apartment. She shot the girl a smirk, knowing exactly what she had just pulled. The girl matched her smirk and walked into the kitchen, “Natasha said she’ll be up in a minute,” Penny told her, “I’m going to run through the shower really quick too.”

“Okay, darling,” Pepper said quietly, “Will you tell Tony and Clint that dinner is almost finished?” She said, knowing exactly what she was doing.

Penny shot her a knowing look, “Fine, but only because whatever that is smells amazing,” She said and earned a laugh from the woman who thanked her. Penny walked into the main room and caught Clint’s eyes. 

She signed, ‘Pepper says dinner is almost done,’ Knowing that he preferred not to wear his hearing aids during the evening, especially if he’d already worn them all day. He signed back his thanks. ‘Will you tell Mr. Stark?’ She asked him and he nodded but looked as if he was going to question why he needed to do it, ‘I want him to think I’m still mad at him,’ She supplied. The man rolled his eyes and nodded. Ah yes, he had daughters. He completely understood that.

0~0~0

“это неловко (this is awkward),” Natasha mumbled. They were all sat around the table in complete silence. Penny snorted at the remark.

“тогда сделай это лучше (make it better then),” Penny told her sassily. Natasha laughed at the girl.

“а что ты предлагаешь? (and what do you suggest?),” She asked the teenager across from her.

“что-нибудь лучше этого (anything is better than this),” Penny said pointedly earning a nod from the spy, “мы могли ограбить, взять еду и бежать (we could stage a robbery, take the food and run),” Penny offered with a smirk.

“У Клинта есть стрелки под столом. мы бы далеко не ушли (Clint has arrows under the table. We wouldn’t get far),” She told the girl as she rolled her eyes.

“разве у вас где-то не спрятаны ножи? (Don’t you have knives tucked somewhere?)” The girl asked knowingly and just received a laugh in response. The two of them finally looked up to see Clint still eating like nothing was out of the ordinary, Tony and Pepper staring at Penny like she had grown a second head, and Steve glancing back and forth between Penny and Natasha with the most confused look on his face, “What?” The girl asked.

“Since when do you speak Russian?” Steve asked her. The girl shrugged.

“Umm,” She shrugged. She really didn’t want to get into this with them right now. Natasha knew, of course, she’d been shocked the first time the girl had responded to her Russian sarcasm that no one else ever understood.

“Penny?” Pepper said softly and Penny looked up and met searching blue eyes.

The girl sighed, “Umm,” She started and now moved her food around her plate, “After my… Well, before Ben and May… Anyway, I lived in a group home,” She all but whispered. She didn’t dare look up and see the looks of pity she was sure she was getting right now, “And, uh, the woman who ran it. She was Russian. She barely spoke English, actually. So it was either adapt or be confused. So I adapted,” Penny finished quietly and continued to look down at her plate as she pushed her food around with her fork.

“Good for you, kid,” Tony finally broke the tense silence. Penny looked up at him, grateful that he didn’t offer some pitying apology or tell her how awful it must have been. Maybe she could be finished being mad at him now.

0~0~0

“Shit,” Penny mumbled as she searched through her gym bag in the locker room. MJ looked over at her, one perfect eyebrow raised in question. Penny huffed, “I apparently grabbed my Widow workout shorts,” She said, knowing that MJ would know what she meant, “And not my school gym shorts,” She scowled, “I guess I’ll take the failing dress-out grade for the day.”

MJ stood up now that her shoe was tied securely and grabbed the pair of shorts in question, “These look fine. You won’t get dress-coded in gym anyway,” The girl said and shrugged, handing Penny her shorts back.

“Well, yeah, but…” Penny didn’t have a good argument. She just never showed that much skin at school. MJ shook her head, laughing. “I guess,” Penny finally conceded and quickly changed into the shorts and pulled on her Midtown High t-shirt, “Let’s go then,” She mumbled.

She and MJ followed the rest of the girls back out into the gym where most of the boys were already waiting with their PE coach. He explained what they’d be doing for the day, basketball. Penny hated basketball.

“Damn, Parker,” Penny bristled. Flash was way too close for her liking and she could only imagine the insult coming her way, “Legs for days,” He said and she felt her blood run cold. Was he flirting with her? She glanced sideways at MJ, but the girl wasn’t paying him any attention.

Luckily, they broke up into groups then. There were six groups of six. Two groups would play one another at a time and the rest would watch. Penny sighed. Maybe she wouldn’t have to play too long then.

When it was her group’s turn, she walked out onto the court with the rest of them. Flash was on the team opposite her right now and she really didn’t want to end up in his path. There’s no telling how badly he might try to hurt her if he thought he could make it look like an accident.

Their coach put five minutes on the timer and blew the whistle. Penny ran up and down the court, blocking as best as she could, hoping no one would dare throw her the ball. With only a minute left on the clock, she sighed in relief. She hadn’t gotten the ball yet, and she hadn’t gotten near Flash either.

With thirteen seconds left, Penny caught the ball. She blanched and looked to both sides, but was blocked either way. She pivoted, right into Flash. Flash who grabbed her ass. Penny was so shocked; she dropped the ball. There was no way that was an accident. Luckily the timer buzzed and they were finished. She quickly ran off the court and took a seat in the bleachers again.

Penny did have to play again, but she thanked her lucky stars that her group and Flash’s group didn’t end up on the court at the same time anymore. When the period was over, she couldn’t wait to get back into the locker room and change. She’d never been so thankful to put on her favorite pair of jeans and a t-shirt. She even dug Mr. Stark’s old MIT hoodie out of her backpack and threw it on too. She felt like she needed the extra layer.

As Penny was leaving the gym to go to her next class, her senses tingled, “Pity,” She glanced back to see Flash there behind her. She hated the look in his eyes. It made her feel sick, “I was enjoying the show.”

0~0~0

“Kid? Penny?!” Penny startled and shook her head to clear her mind as she looked over at Mr. Stark. He looked slightly amused but also concerned. She was in the lab and they had been working on some new suit upgrade designs. She hadn’t been able to get Flash out of her head all afternoon though and she had apparently zoned out, “You okay, Underoos?” He asked her.

“Yeah, totally,” Penny said brightly and gave him what she hoped was a convincing smile, “Just thinking about how dumb I must have looked playing basketball today in gym,” She said.

Tony still didn’t look like he bought her excuse, but he did repeat what he’d said before she zoned out. The two of them worked on the designs for another half an hour or so before calling it a day. 

“Pen?” He called softly and she looked up at him, “You know, if there’s anything bothering you, no matter what it is, you can tell me right?” He asked. She nearly broke down and told him there. He was trying so hard and she felt so stupid. It wasn’t even that big of a deal. She was just being dramatic! “No matter what,” He repeated for emphasis.

“I know, Mr. Stark,” She paused, waiting for him to correct her on his name but it didn’t come, and she realized he really was trying to be serious, “I’m fine. I promise.”

“If you’re sure then.”

0~0~0

“Did Penny seem quiet today to you?” Tony asked Pepper as they sat together on the couch that night after the girl had gone to bed.

“She did,” Pepper said softly, “Did she say anything?”

“No, but she kept zoning out while we were in the lab. She said something about basketball, but I don’t know, Pep. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“I agree,” Pepper mumbled, “She nearly put her hand on the stove burner because she wasn’t paying attention earlier. Spidey-senses and all, and the kid almost gave herself second degree burns.”

“Could it just be normal teenager stuff?” Tony asked, at a loss.

“I suppose it could be,” Pepper answered him after a moment, “We’ll keep an eye on it for the time being.”

0~0~0

Penny had avoided Flash like the plague. However, that didn’t stop him from finding her in the hallway or ending up near her in gym. She’d heard countless sexual remarks and endured too many “accidental” inappropriate brushes and touches. But what was she supposed to do? She’d always taken it because she didn’t want him to bully someone else who couldn’t. But now that he was doing this? She just felt ill all the time.

Pepper and Mr. Stark had clearly noticed the change in her behavior as well. Pepper watched her curiously all the time and Mr. Stark seemed to always have a task for her, apparently thinking she didn’t need to be alone with her thoughts. Hell, maybe he was right. She wanted to tell them, but what was she supposed to say? ‘Hey I’m a super hero and all but can you deal with this high school boy who keeps touching me’? Yeah, that sounded great.

Penny exited the restroom stall. She’d taken to only going to the restroom during class so there was nearly no chance that she would run into Flash while there. The girl washed her hands and dried them before exiting the restroom. She checked her phone and responded to a text from Wanda before her senses lit up.

The next thing she knew, she was against the wall and Flash was pinning her there. She dropped her phone in the scuffle and pushed at him to get him away from her, “Feisty,” He said, “I like it,” Penny squirmed and looked around for anyone who could help her. Flash ran a hand down from her shoulder, across her chest, she felt sick, and kept going past her stomach. Penny took a deep breath and brought her knee up as hard as she could.

While Flash was rolling around on the floor holding his hands between his legs and cursing her for all she was worth, Penny scooped up her phone, wiped at the tears streaming down her face, and ran down the hallway. She ran until she could no longer hear him and wasn’t even sure she knew where she was anymore.

The girl ran a shaky hand through her hair and looked at her phone. She bit her lip and dialed before putting it to her ear.

“Penny?” Was her answer. She knew he’d answer.

“Mr. Stark?” She asked brokenly and heard him stop whatever he’d been doing, “Will you come get me?”

“I’ll be right there.”

0~0~0

Penny received an alert from FRIDAY when Tony’s location pinged him at her school. She thanked the AI and headed towards the front of the building. He was getting out of his car as she was walking out of the front door. She made eye contact with the man and felt the dams burst. 

Penny took off at a sprint towards the man she considered to be her father. He caught her easily as she threw herself into his arms and sobbed against him. Her legs wrapped around him and he rubbed his hands over her back soothingly as he shushed her and rocked them both back and forth.

“Penny?” He asked softly and she shook her head, “Okay, Roos, we don’t have to talk about it right now,” He soothed and Penny clung to him even tighter, “Are you okay for me to put you in the car?”

Penny clung to the man for a moment more before nodding. Tony walked over to the passenger side door and opened it. He knelt and deposited her into the seat before kneeling in front of her. The girl was a wreck. Her eyes were red as ever, her ponytail had all but fallen, her face was blotchy, and he could see the tale tell sign of her anxiety; hives crawling up her neck.

“Penny, baby,” He said softly as he reached out and wiped her tears away, “Whatever it is, we are going to fix it, okay?”

Penny nodded after a moment, but more tears rolled down her cheeks as she leaned forward against him again. He hugged her tightly, knowing that’s what she needed in the moment.

“Can we go home?” She asked brokenly and Tony nodded. He knew he should question her. Where were her things? Didn’t he need to properly sign her out? But he didn’t care right now. Not when she looked like this.

“Yeah, baby girl, let’s go home.”

0~0~0

Tony stepped out of the elevator carrying his kid. Penny had been clinging to him the entire ride, had immediately glued herself to his side when they’d gotten out of the car in the tower’s garage, and Tony hadn’t had the heart to do anything other than lift her into his arms and give her whatever comfort she needed right now.

He walked into the main room to find Pepper there dressed in her comfortable clothes rather than her normal business attire. He’d texted her on the way, told her that he had a Penny emergency and that he would need her when they got home.

She met his eyes, her own wide as ever, and he shook his head that he didn’t know. “Penny, baby?” She cooed softly and the girl opened her eyes to look at her mother figure.

“Pepper,” The girl whispered brokenly. Tony sat her to her feet and the woman wrapped her in her arms tightly as Penny clung to her like a lifeline. Pepper could feel the girl trying to get impossibly closer to her and felt her heart shatter. What the hell had happened?

Pepper lifted Penny, just like Tony had and supported her under her thighs. She gave little thought to the fact that Penny weighed nearly as much as she did. She didn’t care. Not when her baby was this upset. She sat down on the couch with the girl straddling her and rocked her gently as she told her over and over that she was okay now and that they loved her so much.

Penny eventually stopped actively crying and just clung to the woman. Pepper was still holding her, and Tony was next to them, his hand rubbing gentle circles on the girl’s back and offering reassurances alongside Pepper’s.

The three of them heard Tony’s phone start buzzing, he glanced at it and rolled his eyes, “It’s your school. I didn’t sign you out properly. Give me a minute,” He got up and left the room quickly, phone to his ear.

Pepper gently ran her fingers through Penny’s hair to get it out of her face, “Hey, baby girl,” She whispered when Penny’s watery blue eyes met her own, “I love you so much, Penny,” She whispered and kissed the end of the girl’s nose. Penny’s lips flickered upwards in the briefest of smiles.

Tony reentered the room then, confused expression on his face, “Penny,” He said softly, “Did- did you get in a fight?” He asked curiously. There was no anger in his voice though.

The girl felt her heart sink. That’s what he’d told them? How dare he. Her breathing started to quicken and she panicked, “Woah, darling, hold on,” Pepper said gently, “Stay with me here,” She said as she put both of her hands on the girl’s back and splayed her fingers as wide as possible, “Focus here, baby girl. Breath in big enough to fill my hands, okay? That’s what I need from you right now.”

When Penny’s panic had subsided, she looked at him, “I didn’t get in a fight,” She whispered. Her voice was thick with tears. But how was she supposed to tell them the next part?

“Okay,” He said and she knew that he believed her right then, no questions asked. She let a few more tears fall down her cheeks.

“He- he… he,” She shook her head and focused on breathing again, “He,” She cursed under her breath. Why couldn’t she say it, dammit? She took a breath, “He touched me,” She forced out of her mouth, the words fell out with another sob and both Pepper and Tony froze in place.

“Who?!”

“What?!”

Penny shook her head as both of them asked at the same time. Pepper drew the girl back towards her again and felt Penny lay her head back down on her shoulder. Tony looked on, watched his kid heartbrokenly sob against his fiancé. He felt her tiny hand reach his and he linked his fingers with hers and squeezed gently, letting her know he was there.

“F-flash,” She said after a moment, “He’s b-been... He’s been saying these- these nasty things… and he’s been t-touching me. But it wasn’t t-that bad. But t-today… I was a-alone and h-he,” She broke off and her gaze found Tony’s. His heart broke into a million more pieces than it was already in. 

Tony stood then and both Pepper’s and Penny’s gazes snapped up to him, “You were in a hallway?” He asked her and she nodded, “Then fuck it all. I’m going to that school and pulling the footage from the cameras,” He said. He leaned down and kissed Penny’s forehead, “I love you, baby girl. I’ll be back as soon as I kill the son of a bitch,” He whispered to her. She swallowed thickly and shook her head at him but didn’t say anything. Tony quickly kissed Pepper on the lips and her eyes told him all he needed. Do it.

0~0~0

Pepper held the girl in her lap for a while longer, rocking her gently, soothing her, and telling her over and over again that she was safe. When Penny had finally quieted down, and her breathing returned to normal, Pepper felt the slightest of weights lift off of her chest. She hated seeing Penny like this.

“Hey, baby?” She asked and felt the girl tense, “No, I’m not going to ask you about it. I was going to see if you wanted to take a bath?” She asked softly as she trailed her fingers gently through the girl’s hair. 

Penny was still for a long moment before nodding. Pepper smiled softly and pressed a kiss to the side of her head. She stood and carried the girl with her. “Pepper, I can walk,” The girl protested. Tony was one thing. Pepper was another entirely. She and the woman were nearly the exact same size. Sure, Pepper was taller than she was, but Penny had a good bit of muscle on her smaller frame.

“Baby girl, it might sound selfish, but I’m not quite ready to let you go yet,” Pepper told her and Penny bit at her bottom lip as she clung even tighter to the woman. Pepper carried her into her and Tony’s bedroom and through into the en suite bathroom. She placed the girl on the counter and leaned back slightly to look at her face, “FRIDAY,” She called softly, “Run a bath at Penny’s preferred temperature,” She said and heard the water turn on. 

She hugged the girl once more as the water ran. When the tub was full, the water shut off automatically, “Okay, baby, I’m going to go find you some PJs. Go ahead and get in. I’ll come back in a few minutes to check on you, okay?” Penny nodded in response and watched the woman leave the bathroom and pull the door closed.

Penny took a breath and stood on shaky legs. She stripped, threw her clothes into the hamper in the corner, and stepped over into the bathtub. She sank into the water and sighed. The girl pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them as she stared blankly ahead.

Penny heard Pepper coming back. The woman opened the door and laid the clothing as well as the clean towel on the counter as she entered. Pepper looked down at her baby and couldn’t stomach leaving her alone anymore right now. She sank to her knees on the floor next to the tub, “Penny?” She asked and the girl laid her cheek on her knees to look at her, “Can I wash your hair, darling?” She asked and the girl nodded after a moment.

Penny went through the motions; Pepper washed and rinsed her hair as well as her back for her. She left her briefly to dry off and get dressed. When Penny exited the bathroom, Pepper sat her down at her vanity and stood behind her to brush through her hair as she did every night. The girl thanked her quietly, and with the first smile Pepper had seen all day.

Pepper grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen, “Let’s get some food in you, Spider-girl,” She said gently, “You must be starving.” Penny was indeed hungry. But she’d been so preoccupied by everything else that she hadn’t noticed. Pepper made quick work of grilled cheese sandwiches and soup. The girl ate quietly from her place sat on the counter. Pepper stood next to her, ready to be there if she needed her again. One of Penny’s hands linked with hers as if she were tethering her here.

When they had both eaten, Penny not as much as Pepper knew she should but she didn’t want to push the girl right now, she led the girl back to her and Tony’s bedroom. She gestured to the bed and Penny met her eyes momentarily as if she might argue about it. She didn’t and just climbed into their bed. She curled up in the middle of it and Pepper laid down next her and pulled her into her arms. “Go to sleep, darling. I’m right here.”

0~0~0

Pepper heard the elevator and looked at Penny. The girl was sleeping and Pepper chanced moving. Penny didn’t wake and so the woman slipped out of the bed and out of the room. She left the door cracked as she made her way towards Tony.

“How is she?” He asked as he wrapped Pepper in his arms tightly. Pepper hugged him back just as tight.

“She’s okay right now. She took a bath and ate and now she’s asleep in our bed,” She said as she pulled back and looked at him. He nodded. “How did it go?”

“The footage was all there. The little prick has been expelled,” Tony told her.

“Did he...?” Pepper couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence but Tony knew what she meant.

“No,” He shook his head, “That’s the only reason he’s alive. God, Pepper, his arrogant face. He thought he’d gotten away with this.” Pepper grabbed his hand in her own. She knew how he felt. After watching Penny suffer all afternoon, she’d probably be willing to take a few shots at the kid too. “Pep, the footage,” He shook his head, “It’s been weeks of harassment. It nearly made me sick,” He confessed.

“I guess that’s what we noticed then?” She said, “When she started being so quiet,” She explained and Tony nodded after a moment, “Fuck, how did we miss this?”

“I don’t know,” Tony told her.

“It’s not your fault,” They both spun to see Penny stood in the doorway to the main room. She was rubbing at her face. Her shirt (another of Tony’s stolen shirts actually) was much too long on her and hung to mid-thigh completely covering her sleep shorts. Her favorite Iron Man printed socks adorned her feet. Her hair was in a messy bun. She looked very much like a child who needed protecting then and there. Super-DNA be damned. God, they loved her.

“Baby-” Pepper started and Penny shook her head to stop her.

“It’s neither of your faults. I have tried to force myself to tell either of you for the last two weeks. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t get the words out. I figured I could take his stupid comments and the dumbass shit he was doing,” She raised an eyebrow in shock, “What, no ‘language’?”

“Considering the number of f-bombs we’ve dropped today, you can have a pass at the moment,” Tony said with a shrug and Penny smirked and nodded. 

“I know now that it was stupid of me to just take it. I know that. But I couldn’t make it stop. I felt so weak around him. I mean, hell, I’m supposed to be able to defend myself. But I just couldn’t.” She finished and wrapped her arms around herself

Tony crossed the room first and pulled the girl into his arms, “Penny, this is not your fault,” He told her. “That boy took advantage of you and you did what you thought best. You took it so no one else would have to. Am I right?” Penny swallowed thickly but nodded, “And I love that about you. That you stand up for the little person. But I hate that you got hurt in the process.” Penny nodded and looked at the ground, “Just know that there won’t ever be anything that you can’t tell us. We will always be here for you. No matter what it is. And we can always fix it.”

0~0~0

The next day found Pepper making sure that her schedule was light so she could be available for most of the day. Tony stayed in the penthouse rather than holed up in the lab. Natasha, Clint, and Steve were filled in on the situation and the three of them were also milling about the apartment floor. Penny was still asleep being that it was early, but she was expected to be up any time now.

The Avengers present were all sitting around the table talking quietly and eating breakfast when the girl appeared. Penny shot them all a smile when she received multiple good mornings and headed into the kitchen. They could hear her rustling around and more coffee being made. When a gasp came from the kitchen, all heads snapped up and Natasha and Tony were on their feet in seconds.

“Are these Avenger Eggos?!” The girl yelled excitedly from the kitchen. Tony breathed out a sigh of relief and shook his head. Natasha rolled her eyes, but her smile gave away that she truly had a soft spot for the kid.

“I’ve got it,” She said as she left the room and headed into the kitchen. She entered the kitchen to see Penny had ripped the box open and was currently laying out one of each waffle to toast, “маленький паук?” She asked and Penny looked at her, bright smile on her face.

“Nat, look!” She said and held up a waffle, “It’s a shield!” She beamed and dropped four waffles into the toaster. “Do you want some?” Penny asked and turned bright eyes to the spy. Natasha laughed. No, she really didn’t, but the look she was on the receiving end of was telling her that ‘yes’ was the correct answer.

“Sure, but I refuse to eat Iron Man waffles,” She said as she retrieved a second plate from the cabinet.

“I heard that!” Tony called from the dining room.

“I wasn’t whispering!” Natasha called back as she shook her head, “That man, I swear, I don’t know how you put up with him,” She mumbled and earned a smile from Penny. The girl caught her waffles as they popped up and placed four more into the toaster, “I think your coffee’s done,” She sniffed, “Why does it smell like that?”

“Double the caffeine,” Penny answered her simply as she decided she had enough waffles and put the box back into the freezer.

“Oh, good lord. Do not let Clint know that exists.”

0~0~0

Tony watched on amused. Penny had somehow roped the other three Avengers into a game of Monopoly. So far, they had been playing for nearly an hour. Natasha looked smug, Penny was on her heels, Steve was losing money left and right, and Clint just looked happy to be there and bought whatever he landed on and sold whatever anyone wanted.

“Steve, Natasha, serious question,” Penny said suddenly and the three gave her their undivided attention, “Considering that our DNA is altered and superhuman and all that,” She started and received two nods indicating that they followed so far, “What would happen if, say, we drank bleach or something?” She asked, genuinely curious, “Like would it be the same as a normal human? Worse? No effect at all?”

It was silent for a moment as they all took in the question. “Only one way to find out,” Natasha answered and Steve nodded and stood.

“No!” Tony interjected suddenly and earned four looks of surprise, “No one is drinking bleach in this tower.”

“Who’s drinking bleach?” Pepper asked as she walked through the room, coffee mug in hand and headed towards the kitchen for a refill. She was quickly joined by the girl who hadn’t seen her all morning and wrapped an arm around Penny’s shoulders as the two of them entered the kitchen, “Good morning, baby girl,” Pepper murmured as she kissed the girl’s forehead and reached for the coffee pot.

“Morning,” Penny chirped back, “Do you think if someone with superhuman DNA drank bleach that it would affect them very much?” She asked completely innocently and with questioning eyes directed up at the CEO.

Pepper blinked several times and then looked around the girl to where she could see the rest of the Avengers still in the floor around the coffee table, “You three couldn’t entertain her better than this?” Pepper asked.

“I think it’s a fair question,” Clint answered and then conveniently looked away when Pepper raised her eyebrow at him, “Maybe not,” He mumbled.

“I think that’s a question for the superhuman biologist who lives in the building and not an experiment we run, darling,” Pepper answered the girl who was still waiting next to her. Penny scrunched her face up and Pepper tapped her on the nose, “Come on, I have some free time. You can tell me about your latest project,” Penny beamed and left the room with Pepper.

“Kid, we have a game going here!” Steve called after her.

“Natasha just stole all of your twenties, all of Clint’s tens, and all of my purple properties! It wasn’t going to last much longer anyway,” She called back and heard both men groan while Natasha laughed at them.

“Good eye, маленький паук!”

0~0~0

That night as Penny yawned for the fourth time and finally decided to head to bed, she laid her head on Tony’s shoulder. “Thanks, guys,” She said softly. She felt Tony shift and could see Pepper looking at her now.

“For what, baby girl?” The woman asked her softly.

“For today,” Penny said simply, “For letting me stay home. For staying close by. For being here,” She explained quietly, “I truly am okay,” She continued, “And I’m going to be okay. But I can’t tell you both how much it means to have you around.”

“You’re welcome, Penny, but there’s no need to thank us,” Pepper said as she sat up and pushed the girl’s hair out of her face.

“She’s right, Roos,” Tony spoke up, “We’ll always be here for you. Exactly where we want to be.”

0~0~0

Several weeks had passed. Penny had gone back to school and she seemed fine. She was settled back into her routine and Pepper and Tony were thankful that she had recovered as quickly as she had. They knew that wasn’t always the case.

The three of them were sat on the couch, watching TV as was their nightly custom. Pepper picked up the remote and paused the movie. Penny was currently laid with her head in Pepper’s lap and her legs across Tony’s. She looked up at Pepper to see if she needed to move to let the woman get up, but the woman shook her head, sensing the question.

“Penny, we have something we need to talk about with you, darling,” Pepper told her and the girl nodded after a moment. She looked to Tony who was giving nothing away with his expression. “So you’ve been living here close to five months now,” Pepper said and ran her fingers through the girl’s hair. Penny gave another nod. “Your case worker called today. And while we are your temporary guardians, we have been cleared to fully adopt you… if that’s something that you would be okay with?”

Penny sat up so quick, she nearly gave herself whiplash, “You wanna adopt me?” She asked, looking between both of them.

“Yeah, Pen. We want to adopt you,” Tony answered and watched tears well up in her eyes, “Was there any doubt?” He asked with a laugh and she just shrugged as she threw herself into his arms to hug him tightly. 

When she released her hold on him, she then gave Pepper the same treatment, earning a laugh from the woman. “Is that a yes, baby girl?” Pepper asked through her laughs.

“Yeah,” Penny said as she sat back and wiped under her eyes where a few tears had fallen, “Yeah, it is,” She answered with a bright smile.

“We love you, kid.”

“I love you guys too.”

0~0~0

Penny stepped out of the elevator, looking down at the group text between herself, MJ, and Ned. As she walked by the main room, her senses tingled. She looked up to see an unfamiliar man there on the couch. Penny bit her lip as the man looked at her in confusion.

“Umm, hi?” She offered as she shifted on her feet. She heard a noise from the kitchen and turned her head that way, trying to sense who was in there.

“Are the Avengers in the habit of taking in children now?” Came the response from the man. She didn’t like his tone, it wasn’t friendly.

“Umm,” Penny faltered. Who was this?

“маленький паук?” She heard from the kitchen and relaxed some. She couldn’t sense anyone else around at the moment and knowing that Natasha was there comforted her.

Penny’s gaze flicked back and forth between the strange man and the door to the kitchen before she quickly made her way to the kitchen. She entered to see the spy in question stood on the counter as she reached for something on the higher shelves.

“Nat?” She asked and the woman looked down at her. She quickly grabbed the dish she was after and handed it to Penny so she could step down without it in her hands. Penny looked at the dish in her hands and internally cheered. That meant Natasha was cooking tonight which meant amazing Russian food.

“I see you’ve met our guest,” Natasha said with a sneer as she took the dish back from the girl and sat it to the side.

“Umm, yeah, who is that?” She asked as she looked over her shoulder back towards the main room before turning back to Natasha.

“Howard,” The woman answered her simply.

“Howard?” Penny questioned, “Howard Stark?” She asked wide eyed.

“Yep,” Natasha said as she started digging around in the fridge.

“So, where’s Tony?” She asked.

“Definitely not in the lab,” The woman said with a wink, “Definitely out running an errand.”

“Uh huh,” Penny giggled, “And Pepper?” She asked.

“Definitely not holed up in her office hiding. Definitely on an important call,” The woman said in the same tone.

“Ahh, I see. So who’s supposed to be entertaining him?” Penny asked and gestured towards the main room again.

“Definitely not me,” Natasha answered, “The man can’t stand me, and I don’t like him either,” She shrugged, “Sounds like a job for Spider-girl,” She teased.

“Ugh,” Penny groaned as she grabbed a bowl deciding that she wanted cereal. “Hold on, is this Avengers cereal?”

Natasha just snorted. She still found it hilarious that the kid was enamored with anything ‘Avengers’. She watched Penny grab her cereal, a spoon, and head into the main room. “Hi, Mr. Stark!” The girl said excitedly, and Natasha almost didn’t cover her laugh. She opened her phone to text Pepper.

Natasha Romanov: You have got to check the live feed for the main room right now.

0~0~0

When Pepper checked her phone about half an hour later, she furrowed her eyebrows at the message but opened the live feed anyway. Her eyes nearly bugged out of her head as she realized Penny was in the room with Howard Stark. Pepper turned on the audio and listened to the conversation at hand before giggling at the girl.

“So was Tony like a serious kid, or like a not serious kid?” Pepper laughed.

“What?” She heard Howard ask.

“Like, he seems like a handful now. I can only imagine him being a tiny science genius and destroying things. Or was he one of those quiet kids? Nah, I’m scratching that myself, no chance that man was ever quiet.” The girl flipped a page in her textbook and made another note in her notebook.

“Who are you?” The man asked exasperatedly, and Pepper could only imagine that he’d asked her that several times now only to have Penny deflect the answer. She was good at that when she wanted to be.

“We’re learning about molecular genetics in my science class right now,” Penny said and Pepper snorted. God this kid was a gift, “Do you know anything about molecular genetics?” She asked and looked up, innocent eyes shining. The man just stared at her, “I guess not,” Penny whispered to herself sarcastically, “History, then, that’s gotta be your thing, right?” She asked.

“No,” Howard answered gruffly, and Penny sighed. Pepper knew she needed to watch the other half an hour of footage that she’d missed. She could only imagine what the girl had been asking him and talking about. But right now, she figured she should go rescue her daughter before she gave Howard an aneurism. She decided to call Tony first though.

“Pepper, I’m not coming up there,” Tony answered on the first ring and she laughed at him.

“I’m not saying you have to. But you have got to pull up the footage of the main room right now. Penny is about to give the man a heart attack,” She laughed.

“Penny’s with him? Shit,” She heard his voice rise as he realized his kid was alone with the father he hated.

“She’s fine, Tones. I’m about to go get her now that I know she’s in there. But you’ve got to watch it,” She laughed.

“I will. I also suppose I’ll come up in a few. But I’m not promising to be nice.”

“I expect nothing less.”

0~0~0

Penny heard the door to Pepper’s office open. She grinned and got up to run and hug tackle the woman as she entered the main room. “Hey, darling, how was school?” Pepper asked as she laughed at the over-exuberant teenager.

“It was good,” Penny said as she hugged the woman, “Mr. Smith asked me to be on the robotics team, but I dunno. The technology is kind of outdated,” She said, and Pepper smiled.

“I’m sure it is when you’re used to a state-of-the-arc lab,” Pepper teased, “What smells good?”

“Nat’s cooking,” Penny said excitedly and tugged Pepper into the kitchen, past a confused looking Howard Stark.

Pepper walked into the kitchen to see Natasha sitting on the counter and a clearly amused look on her face. She must have been present for Penny’s entire time with Howard. Pepper didn’t know if she could have lasted through it all without laughing and giving herself up.

“That kid of yours is something else,” Natasha told her, knowing smirk on her face.

Pepper laughed, “Don’t we know it?” She joked back and reached out to pop Penny lightly on the butt as the kid started messing with dinner. Penny turned around and shot her a pleading look, “Not a chance, baby girl,” Pepper laughed. “I suppose I should go face my future father-in-law,” Pepper sighed and Natasha shot her an amused look.

“Oh come on, he’s not that bad,” Penny offered.

“Yeah? How many words has the man said to you since you got here?” Pepper asked her.

“Not including repeated words or phrases?” Penny asked and received a nod, “About seven,” She answered and bit her lip to keep from laughing.

“Uh huh,” Pepper said as she tugged the girl into her side, “Sounds like a glorious conversation. Maybe he won’t say more than seven words to me either.” Pepper exited the kitchen and reentered the main room, “Howard, so sorry to keep you waiting. That call just kept going and going,” Pepper said sweetly, and she heard Penny attempt to stifle a laugh. She shot the girl a look. “What brings you here?” She asked, completely in her ‘fake’ voice.

“I can’t stop by to see what my son has done with the family name?” Howard answered shortly. Pepper gave him her ‘CEO smile’.

“Of course you’re always welcome!” She said brightly, “In fact,” She tilted her head to the side as if she was listening to something. Penny looked at her sideways like she was crazy, “I think that’s Tony getting home now!” She said and Penny raised her eyebrows and looked the other way. “Penny, why don’t you go get him?”

Penny looked at Pepper, completely amused, “You sure you heard him?” She asked, “I didn’t hear anything,” She pointed out.

“One hundred percent,” Pepper answered her, “You heard it right, Nat?” The woman said louder as she turned towards the kitchen.

“Yep!” Came her amused reply.

“See? Why don’t you go bring him up?” Pepper said and shot the girl a smile. Penny smirked.

“Yes, ma’am,” She said and turned to run towards the elevator. 

Penny took the elevator down to the lab and waited for the doors to open. She could hear Tony laughing at something and realized, as she rounded the corner, that he was watching footage of herself and Howard upstairs.

“Mr. Stark, you look like a man who enjoys a good drink,” Penny was telling him brightly, “Do you enjoy a good drink, Mr. Stark?” She asked.

“Who are you?” The man asked exasperatedly.

“You know, I’m not old enough to drink,” Penny said as she shrugged and flipped another page in her textbook, “But you are!” She looked up at him, “You look like a whiskey guy. Are you a whiskey guy, Mr. Stark?” She heard Tony’s full laugh once again and finally rounded the worktable he was sat at so he saw her. 

“Kid, you are killing me. Where have you been when I wanted to annoy the hell out of him before?” He asked her as he paused the feed on his phone. Penny shrugged and sent him a smile, “Uh oh,” He said and looked at her expectantly.

“Pepper gave you away,” She said and watched him roll his eyes, “You ‘just got home from your errand’ and I’m ‘supposed to come bring you up’,” She told him. “So, come on,” She finished lamely and gestured grandly towards the elevator, “Also Natasha cooked and Pepper wouldn’t let me have any before dinner,” She told him, eyes wide and pleading with him.

He laughed and tugged the pouting teen into his side, “Didn’t you already eat three bowls of Avenger-O’s or whatever they’re called?” He asked as they stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the penthouse.

“Well, yeah,” Penny said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, “But it’s Nat’s cooking,” She said with emphasis on the last word.

“Oh, excuse me,” He said and held his hands up in surrender, “I’ll make sure Pep knows what a serious crime she has committed,” He told her and she smiled triumphantly.

“That’s all I ask,” She said with a satisfied nod. Tony just laughed at the kid and took a breath as the elevator dinged and announced their arrival. They stepped out of the elevator together, Penny still tucked under his arm, “But, serious question,” She said and waited for Tony to look down at her, “He’s totally a whiskey guy, right?” 

Tony laughed and shook his head, “Scotch,” He answered simply, clearly humored by the girl. They finally came into view.

“Anthony,” Tony looked away from Penny to where his father was still perched in the main room. Pepper was across from him sitting on the other armchair, “Nice of you to show up.”

“Thanks,” Tony responded and Penny snorted as she headed back into the kitchen. “Nat,” He called, “Do not let her get into that,” He warned and heard a groan accompanied by Natasha’s amused laugh.

“You’re no fun either,” Penny called from the kitchen, “Nat’s my new favorite.”

“Hold on,” They heard from the kitchen, “Was I not your favorite before?”

“Umm,” Penny hedged, “Well,” She said, “I mean,” She continued and both Tony and Pepper held in amused laughs at the girl’s antics. “In all honesty?” She said as she approached the doorway, “Thor’s my favorite,” She said as she left the kitchen.

“You haven’t even met Thor!” Both Tony and Natasha said at the same time. Penny smirked and caught Pepper’s eyes. The woman beckoned her over and she gladly tucked herself into the armchair with the CEO. It wasn’t exactly big enough for the two of them, but neither cared.

“Is anyone going to tell me who this child is?” Howard asked, “I’ve asked her at least five times and she keeps ignoring the question,” Howard said and Tony snorted and then covered his mouth. He’d seen most of those interactions before Penny had come to retrieve him. He took a seat on the couch being that it was the only place left and his fiancé and kid had left him by himself. He shot them a look, letting them know how much he appreciated it. In return, he got two bright, sarcastic smiles.

“That’s Penny,” Tony said, as if that explained anything. He shifted before fishing something out of the couch he was sitting on, “Penny, whose pencil I just sat on,” He said directed towards the girl.

“Oh! Thanks, I couldn’t find that one after I turned back around. I was wondering where it ended up,” She explained and Tony shook his head as he sat the pencil with her books on the coffee table, “So,” She said as she turned and spoke to Howard again, “A scotch guy. Not a whiskey guy. Got it,” She said and nodded once. Pepper bit her lip hard to keep from laughing and Tony buried his face in his hand to cover his amusement.

“Penny is our daughter,” Tony answered when he was finally sure he wouldn’t laugh at the girl. Penny blinked rapidly for a few seconds. She still wasn’t used to either of them referring to her like that. Pepper kissed the side of her head when she noticed and squeezed the girl gently.

Howard’s entire demeanor changed from one of mild annoyance to one of complete disdain, “You make your fiancé raise your bastard child, Anthony? Did I not raise you better?” 

Penny’s eyes widened as she glanced between the two men and she felt Pepper tense beside her.

“Natasha, would you take Penny downstairs for a few moments?” Tony called. His voice was calm. Way too calm. Penny had never heard it like that.

The spy was walking into the room seconds later and looked to the girl, “давай, маленький паук (come on, little spider),” She said.

Penny stood as she pouted at the red head, “но я хочу это увидеть (but I want to see this),” She said with a pointed look towards the trio in the main room.

“мы можем посмотреть это вживую. Ну же (we can watch it on the live feed. Come on),” She told the girl and jerked her head towards the elevator. Penny nodded and bounded out of the room towards the elevator.

0~0~0

Sitting side by side on Natasha's bed, they pulled up the feed via FRIDAY. Natasha turned up the volume on her phone so they could hear what was going on.

“Don’t you ever talk about her like that again,” Tony said evenly. Pepper had gotten up and joined him on the couch at some point while they were moving downstairs and was now sat at his side, close enough that they were touching.

“Anthony, can you imagine the scandal when the press finds out?” His father asked incredulously.

“Of course that’s all you’re worried about,” Tony bristled, “In case you haven’t noticed, I have a pretty great CEO,” He said and Pepper smirked, “But I highly doubt Penny would cause any kind of press scandal.”

“A love child, Anth-” Tony cut him off.

“I never said she was a love child,” Tony said coldly, “I said she’s our daughter,” He said simply and threw an arm across Pepper’s shoulders, “As much Pepper’s as she is mine,” Tony told him and Penny bit her lip to keep from smiling too widely. Natasha wound an arm around the girl.

“How sweet is that, маленький паук?” Natasha said softly and Penny smiled brightly. She considered them both to be her parents, and she knew they both loved her like their daughter. But this made her feel all tingly inside.

They looked back to the screen to see Howard looking between them in confusion. He finally just made a gesture that he didn’t understand. Pepper laughed and she was the one to speak, “She’s our adopted daughter,” She told him softly, “And she’s the best thing to ever happen to us,” She finished.

Penny blinked rapidly, but her tears still fell. Natasha laughed softly and tugged the girl to lean on her. Penny giggled and laid her head down on Natasha’s shoulder.

“You’ve made a massive mistake,” Howard told them and Tony stood.

“And that’s where you’re wrong. I thought, just maybe, you might change. I guess that sliver of hope was crazy. Get out,” He told his father. Penny’s eyes widened, “And don’t come back.”

“Anthony-” He was cut off again.

“Save it,” Tony told him, “That girl has more class and love in her little finger than you do in your entire body. And I love her. She’s perfect,” He told the man, “Too bad you won’t be around to see how great she turns out.” Pepper stood and took Tony’s hand in her own, a united front.

“You’ll regret this.”

“No, dad, I won’t. But you definitely will,” Tony said. Natasha clicked the phone off and dropped it on the bed.

“Wow,” Penny mumbled, “You think he’ll come back?” She asked innocently.

“I dunno, маленький паук, it’s been nearly four years since the last time I remember him showing up. And they didn’t fight last time,” She answered with a shrug. “You know,” Natasha said and her voice had let humor slip in so Penny knew there was no telling what was about to come out of her mouth, “I feel like if you called me Aunt Nat before you call them ‘mom’ and ‘dad’, it would irk them just the right amount.”

Penny couldn’t contain her smile, “You want me to call you Aunt Nat?” She asked softly.

“Yeah, kid. I think it works, don’t you?” She asked, her own smile in place.

Penny nodded, “Yeah, I think it does,” She told her, “But right now? I’ve got something to take care of,” She said and climbed off of the bed and moved to the door.

“Penny,” Natasha said warningly, “He’s not worth it.”

“Just trust me,” Penny said, “Aunt Nat.”

0~0~0

“Mr. Stark!” Penny called as she ran through the parking garage. Howard stopped and she could see that he was internally deciding whether or not to turn around and face her. She ran towards him and he finally spun around. “Look,” She started, “I know that you and Tony have a really rough relationship,” She said, “But I also know how it feels not to have parents,” She looked down at her feet briefly, “And I know that you may never accept me in a million years,” She continued, “But throwing away a relationship with your kid might be the biggest mistake you ever make in your life.”

Howard stared at her for a long moment before taking a deep breath, “Where’d they find you anyway?”

“Umm,” Penny shrugged, “I tend to hang around,” She smirked at her own joke, knowing he wouldn’t get it.

Howard looked at her with a confused expression for a long moment before sighing, “I’ll be in touch, kid.” And that was all he said before getting into his car and driving off. Penny sighed and headed back upstairs.

When she stepped out of the elevator, she took a deep breath, “Can we eat now? I’m starving!” She exclaimed as she entered the kitchen. Natasha, Pepper and Tony were all looking down at the live feed from the parking garage.

“Kid, you can have the whole dish.”

0~0~0

Tony walked into the penthouse about a week later to find Penny, Natasha, Clint, and Steve all sat around the kitchen table. Penny was concentrating on painting Clint’s nails a bright purple. Her tongue was stuck out to the side as she focused.

“What are you guys doing?” Tony asked as he surveyed the whole scene.

“Penny found Avengers nail decals,” Steve said simply and then held up his hands. Tony bit his lip. Captain America’s nails were painted a brilliant shade of blue and had an image of his shield right in the middle of each of them. 

Tony looked to Natasha who shrugged and held up her own. Hers were a dark red with little black widow spiders in the middle. Tony nodded and bent over the table to survey the progress on Clint’s nails. One hand was finished already, the bright purple a great contrast to the black arrows pictured on them.

He laughed and turned to head towards Pepper’s office, “Where are you going?” Penny called after him, “I have gold nail polish and Iron Man stickers!” Tony stopped and took a deep breath before turning around to see three sets of amused expressions and one pouting teenager.

“Fine,” He sighed and took a seat at the table to wait his turn. When she had put the final topcoat on Clint’s nails, she turned to him and shot him a smile, “Okay, kid, do your worst.”

“Honestly, Tony. I wouldn’t be so cocky. You’re going to be the one who ends up loving it and always has his nails painted from here out,” She told him seriously.

“Kid, if you want to paint my nails, I’m not going to stop you. Even if it means the press has a field day with it,” She smiled brightly as she opened the gold nail polish. He watched as she painted and also joined the casual conversation going on around the table. He looked up when Pepper walked through the kitchen with her coffee cup in hand, obviously heading for a refill, “Don’t go too far, Pep, it’s manicure day.”

The woman just laughed and held a hand up for him to see, “You really think I wasn’t first?” She asked him. Hers were a bright white with ‘Girl Boss’ printed on them in black. Tony smirked and shook his head good naturedly, “Who did you think did Penny’s?” She asked as she disappeared into the kitchen.

Tony looked closer at Penny’s own nails. Each nail was a different color and printed on each one was an image of Thor’s hammer, “Kid, really?” He asked as he gestured towards her own nails.

“Told you he was my favorite,” She said smirking, “Blow,” She instructed as she recapped the polish. Tony rolled his eyes but did as he was told while she located the correct pack of decals. “Plus, I mean, Pepper did a pretty good job,” She said as she held her hands up for inspection.

“Of course I did,” Pepper said sassily as she walked back through. She ran her fingers through Penny’s hair and tilted the girl’s head back, “Did you expect less?” She asked and the girl shook her head, “Good,” She said with a nod and kissed Penny’s forehead before heading back to her office.

Penny set to work placing the decals and then applying the topcoat to Tony’s nails. When she was finished, she admired her handiwork, “Tada!”

“They look fantastic, kid,” Tony said with a laugh.

0~0~0

Penny sat in the floor of the main room working on a project that weekend. Her books were open on the coffee table, notebook in her lap, and pen between her teeth as she read and took notes over what she needed.

Natasha was on the couch reading her own novel and enjoying the company. Pepper was also in the room, occupying one of the armchairs. Her Starktablet was on her lap as she played some mindless game.

The three of them had had lunch together and easily chatted about whatever came up. Tony and Steve were out of town on a mission and Clint was headed back from wherever he’d gone. They’d had their version of a girl’s day that morning.

“Okay, I’ve got to meet Clint in the gym,” Natasha said as she checked her phone. She stood and ruffled Penny’s hair.

“Bye, Aunt Nat,” Penny said without looking up. Natasha turned and smirked to herself as she headed towards the elevator.

“Bye, маленький паук,” Natasha called back as she entered the elevator.

Penny went right back to her schoolwork and bit at her lip, “So if she’s Aunt Nat,” Pepper said teasingly, “What does that make me?” She asked. Penny could hear the joke in the woman’s voice. There was no way she’d be expecting Penny’s response. And that made it ten times better.

“Mama, duh,” Penny answered simply as she flipped the page in her textbook. She continued to read until the silence actually became awkward. When she looked up, Pepper’s eyes were filled with tears and her face was one of shock, “Umm?” She trailed off, unsure of how to respond to the woman.

“What?” Pepper asked after a moment. Penny gave her a confused look, letting her know that she didn’t understand the question. Pepper took a breath, “What did you say?” She asked evenly.

“What do you mean?” Penny asked and tilted her head to the side. “I have no idea what you’re referring to, mama,” She said, and Pepper was up and had the girl in her arms in the next moment. Penny laughed and wrapped her legs around the woman’s waist, “Woah,” Penny giggled out.

“Say it again,” Pepper cooed, “Say it again, baby girl,” She said through her happy laughs and Penny hugged her tightly.

“Mama, you might want to put me down before you throw your back out,” Penny said against her shoulder.

Pepper laughed and shook her head as she spun them around, “Not a chance, baby girl,” She said happily, “Not a damn chance,” She placed kisses all over Penny’s face as the girl giggled and squirmed in her arms. 

“Language,” Penny chastised quietly and the woman shook her head as her happy tears trailed down her cheeks. They both looked up when the elevator dinged thinking Natasha had forgotten something. Neither was expecting Tony to walk into the penthouse.

The man stopped in his tracks. His fiancé was holding their fourteen-year-old daughter in her arms and Pepper’s face was tear tracked. “What’s wrong?” He asked seriously and Pepper just laughed as she shook her head, “Pen?” He asked when Pepper didn’t answer him.

“Jeez, dad, the look on your face makes it seem like we killed somebody or something,” She said sarcastically and Tony dropped the case of materials that was in his hand. Pepper laughed and sat the girl down to her feet.

“What?” He asked incredulously and Penny laughed at him.

“You two, I swear,” Penny said with a shrug, “You know you dropped something right?” She asked him as she pointed. Pepper laughed next to her.

Tony rounded the couch, “Penny?” He said cautiously.

“Dad?” She said back in the same tone and suddenly she was being lifted into his arms now. She laughed as she was once again spun around. “Mama, help!” Penny called out through her laughs when Tony didn’t stop spinning the two of them.

Pepper laughed and reached out a hand to touch Tony’s back. The man stopped spinning and hugged the girl in his arms tightly, “You understand now?” Pepper asked him with a laugh.

“Yeah, I totally get it now.”

**Author's Note:**

> I love this universe and these characters. If there's anything anyone wants to see, let me know! Also thinking about doing a 'field trip to the tower' fic with Penny!


End file.
